Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands
by Erliane
Summary: AR/rewrite of the anime/manga. Rated T for language and violence. Sesshoumaru interferes when his brother attacks Kagome to get the jewel. They will have to work together if they want to prevent the jewel from falling into the hands of Naraku.
1. The impossible made possible

**Sesshoumaru – The Lord of the Western Lands  
**

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**Disclaimer:** If you _think_ I own the rights to Inuyasha, you're as mad as Kikyou.

**A/N: ****My mother and I never liked the titular character of the series much. I know Inuyasha has an 'excuse' for not having manners, but I still dislike him from time to time. After some brainstorming, I came up with a much better story including the (in)famous youkai lord Sesshoumaru as protagonist. And why not? That's what fanfiction is for.**

**Also, I may not like Inuyasha, but I will try not to bash him. ;)  
**

**By the way, I fully realize that in the anime/manga, Kaede's village has no name, is not on the shore and is not called Edo, but in this fanfiction, it is. What else could it be, considering that Kagome's from Tokyo?**

**Also, in this fanfiction, Kagome's 18 and in the last year (3rd ****grade) of high school. This makes things easier for me, because she only has to finish this school year.  
**

* * *

_**-**__**Prologue**__**-  
The miko and the hanyou.**_

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Edo – 1461**

_It happened five hundred and fifty years ago, in the village of Edo. It was just a small, virtually unknown fishing village by that time, which was around 1460. But unbeknownst to many, it was in that village that the miko Kikyou lived, protecting the Shikon No Tama with her life. Because, you see, the jewel called out to every youkai, and promised them to give them whatever their hearts desired._

_But the miko Kikyou was very powerful, and slew every youkai that came in the near vicinity of the jewel.__ Until, one day, she showed pity on__a hanyou named Inuyasha, allowing him to live. After a while, they even became friends._

_Years before that day, a fellow priestess had warned Kikyou never to fall in love, and she was determined to keep __up the promise that she never would. But she couldn't fight her destiny._

_In the end, she was betrayed by the hanyou, and she had to pin him to a tree, putting him into a deep sleep. The miko herself was fatally wounded, and had only a few seconds to think about the strange behavior of the hanyou Inuyasha. He had acted as though she had betrayed him, not the other way around._

_But her wounds were severe, and so she passed away, taking the jewel with her to the Other World. __Even now, it is unknown who betrayed who._

* * *

_**- Chapter One -  
The impossible made possible  
**_

* * *

**Present Day – Japan, Tokyo – 2011**

Somewhere in the future, an alarm clock went off, followed by a scream and a crash as Kagome Higurashi fell out of her bed.

_Please, another five minutes…_Kagome thought, still a bit dazed as she sat up on the floor and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The reincarnation of the miko that died so tragic a death, groaned when she looked at her clock_._

_WHAT? Seven O'clock already? No time for sleep!_

"Ugh, another day in the life of Kagome…" she mumbled.

She tried to be quiet as to not wake up the other members of the family while she packed her schoolbag for the day.

"Are you alright, Kagome?"she heard her mama call from across the hall where her mother's bedroom was. Apparently, mama had heard her screaming when she woke up. "Fine, mama!" she yelled back.

_So much for not waking up the whole household._

She closed her bag and got dressed in her blue and white school uniform, consisting of a blue jacket, blue-and-white checkered skirt, knee-length white socks and brown shoes, a white blouse and a ribbon tied to form a bow under her chin.

When she was done, Kagome sat down on the edge of her bed. Tomorrow, it would be her birthday. Was she really almost eighteen? In two years, she'd have to attend a_seijin shiki,_the Coming of Age Day.

No, she really didn't feel like eighteen years had passed – her life had literally flown past. For as long as she could remember she had lived with her eccentric grandpa, her kind mama, and her younger brother Souta.

Some clattering of pots and pans told her that her mama was already up and about, preparing breakfast for all of them.

She walked past Souta's room. "Time to wake up, Souta!" she yelled, knocking on his door to wake him up. The poor kid always forgot to set his alarm clock. "Thanks, sis!" she heard him shout.

"Hey, Kagome, can you help me with breakfast?" her mum yelled from the kitchen. "Sure, mama." she replied and ran to the kitchen. Recently, she had started helping her mama prepare meals. She was almost eighteen, and in a few years she would be living on her own. And Kagome _did_ want to know how to prepare her favorite meals. Today was Tuesday, Miso soup day.

"What do you want me to do, mama?" she asked as she observed her mother's actions. A pan with dashi soup stock was already boiling on the stove, and her mom was chopping some tofu in small cubes.

"Oh, good morning, dear, could you chop some green onion for me? You know how much."

"Sure, mama!" Kagome said enthusiastically and got a chopping block from one of the drawers. When she was done, she assisted her mother as she boiled some salted salmon and prepare some steamed rice.

She patted Buyo, who was eyeing the salmon suspiciously, on the head and pointed at his food. "Shoo, shoo! I won't have you eating my salmon again!"

When breakfast was ready she called for her grandpa and younger brother to come eat. Family meals had always been important for the Higurashi family. The most important conversations of the day were always during their meals.

Souta was already dressed for school and looked very cute in his middle school uniform. He was fourteen, his birthday two months ago, and as energetic as ever. He was currently the captain of the soccer team at his school, a fact everyone in the family was proud of, but especially their grandpa.

Kagome giggled when she spotted her grandpa, still in his pajamas and looking a bit dazed. "Morning Kagome, Souta, Nodoka…" he mumbled in his squawky voice. He yawned, but Souta didn't allow him much rest.

"Come on, grandpa, I wanna hear another legend!" Kagome rolled her eyes. Young Souta had taken an unhealthy interest to the many stories their grandfather learned during his training as a Shinto Priest. He was currently the caretaker of the Higurashi Shrine, which had been in their family for ages.

His stories were interesting, but Kagome doubted they were true. There were no youkai in her age and she'd never actually seen the so-called holy powers of a priest or miko.

"But Souta, we're supposed to be eating breakfast!"

"Pleaaaaase?" Souta's eyes resembled that of a puppy. _Sneaky boy. He knows grandpa can't say no to him._Kagome thought, a smile on her lips.

"Alright, but let me eat some soup first. I'm quite hungry."

"Sure, grandpa!" Souta grinned from ear to ear, his chocolate eyes shined with excitement while he patiently waited for his grandfather to finish his meal.

Grandpa dabbed his mouth with a napkin and sat back against the wall and rubbed his belly. "Now, which story do you want to hear?"

"Do you have any stories about a powerful youkai? I love those!"

"Mmm… I don't suppose I've told you before about Sesshoumaru, The Lord of the West, right?"

Souta shook his head, his eyes as big as saucers. "He was an actual daiyoukai?"

"Yes. Now, listen…

_Lord Sesshoumaru was one of the most powerful youkai known to men. As his name suggests, he killed with perfection. Many youkai tried to overpower him over the ages, but none were successful. Known for his hatred of humans, he slew thousands of them if they were in the way__, for humans were the reason his father died an untimely death. His father Tetsuo was mated to the human princess Izayoi, and their hanyou child Inuyasha was seen as a disappointment to many of the daiyoukai._

_In the end, when the great daiyoukai Tetsuo had passed away, Izayoi didn't outlive him for long. Sesshoumaru had to care for his younger brother. But he did so with hatred for the child in his heart, and treated him like filth."_

Kagome sighed and bit her lip. Another traditional bad boy legend, it seemed. Souta looked interested, though. Kagome stopped paying attention and began eating her Miso soup. Ooh, it was delicious.

"Is this the same Inuyasha as the one in the legend of the miko and the hanyou?" Souta asked, jumping up and down in his seat.

"Yes, Souta, one and the same…

_When Inuyasha was mature, he fought his brother many times. It is said that the Lord must have gone easy on him, for he survived every last one of the battles. But in one fight Inuyasha showed more power than expected, and with a powerful blast almost killed Sesshoumaru. With the sword of their father,__Tessaiga, the one that should have belonged to Sesshoumaru, he had also cut off Sesshoumaru's left arm in another fight._

_For many days, Sesshoumaru lied injured in the woods, vulnerable to attacks. It was a human girl that helped him recover, she who was so different from everyone else and not afraid of him."_

Kagome's head perked up. A girl? Now _this_sounded more interesting.

"_When the girl was killed by wolves, the daiyoukai used the sword he had inherited from his father, Tenseiga, the sword of life, to revive the girl that had helped him._

_As the young girl had no real home, she followed the Lord everywhere he went. Thanks to this girl, his attitude towards humans changed, if only a bit._

_But it was another human girl that changed him forever. However, no one knows her name. She was the new keeper of the Shikon No Tama, the jewel that had done nothing but help evil in all the years it had existed._

_After the battle with a particularly dangerous youkai, the girl had to leave her mate, for that was what Sesshoumaru was to her - and Sesshoumaru disappeared. No one has seen him ever since, but some believe him to still be alive."_

A sad look passed through Souta's eyes. "That's it? No one knows what happened to the girl?" Grandpa shook his head. The girl was still a mystery to him and others.

"Poor girl… I know I wouldn't want to leave my mate_."_Mom said, tears gliding down her cheeks as she remembered her late husband Takashi.

Kagome shook her head and said. "But it's just a legend! No one even knows whether it's true or not!"

"Why couldn't it have happened? It's not that hard to believe!" Grandpa said, looking a bit misty-eyed himself. Over the years, he had tried the craziest things to convince his granddaughter that youkai really existed, but she simply wouldn't listen.

"Because it's full of youkai! And youkai and magic swords don't exist, gramps!" Kagome said, starting the usual fight.

"Don't say that Kagome! I know for one that my Great Aunt saw a youkai herself! For real!"

Kagome sighed and shook her head in dismay. "I'm going to school now." She ran to her room to get her backpack and stalked out of the door.

"Make sure Buyo doesn't eat your fish, Souta!" she yelled, eyeing the cat as she ran past in on her swift retreat.

It was utterly hopeless. She knew it was hopeless. But she still tried to talk some sense into her crazy grandpa. Because youkai simply did not exist.

_Youkai this, magic that… I'm sick of it! And especially because they believe it, too,_she sighed, looking at her feet while she walked.

Yes, Kagome was a very ordinary teenage girl, thank you very much. She wasn't involved with anything strange or mysterious, and tried to ignore the nonsense her grandpa and brother thought to be the truth.

Kagome tried to look a little more happy. She was close to her high school and she could already see her friends Eri, Ayumi and Yuka. Her friends really weren't all that bad, but if she showed up looking sad they'd want to know what was wrong and she simply couldn't tell her friends about the strange beliefs of her family.

But it was already too late. Ayumi was the one that noticed and approached her with a concerned look on her face. "Kagome, what's wrong? You look sad!"

Kagome blinked, being jerked back to reality from her thoughts.

_Oh, it's Ayumi.__ And she's the one that's supposed to be the more dreamy and absent-minded one of us. Why, oh why does she have to notice_now?

She started fidgeting and averted her gaze. "Nothing, just thinking!" she said, brushing it off. And she left it at that. She didn't notice the weird looks her friends sent her as they watched her rush towards the entrance of their high school.

"She's been acting weird lately." Yuka whispered in her low alto.

"Yeah, I hope everything's all right at the Higurashi's…" Eri fiddled with a few locks of her shoulder-length black hair. "She'd tell us right? If something was wrong?"

"I hope so." Ayumi mumbled, looking at Kagome's retreating back.

But neither one of them noticed the two men on top of the roof, their long raven hair fluttering in the wind as they spied on Kagome and her friends.

"What do you think, Seishiro, will it start soon?" the smallest one of the two asked, wrinkling his nose. She still didn't smell different, so nothing could've happened yet.

"Oh yes, very soon. I'm sure of that." In fact, he knew it would be any day now.

"It must be hard for you." The high tenor was full of compassion.

"Harder than you know…"

* * *

With a groan, Kagome crashed down on her bed, her long black hair spilling over the pink pillow. Finally, this far too long day was almost over. As member of the archery club, she had to stay over at school late and practice.

_Damn Yuka for convincing__ me to join, anyway_. _Bad idea, n__o kiddin'! My arms still ache from pulling that arrow for hours._ She grimaced. _And the results? Nada. I'm still no good at archery._

And so she allowed herself a few minutes of peace. But the books and their flashy titles were already waiting on her desk, nagging her to start studying for the test tomorrow.

"I suppose I should get started on my homework, Buyo." she said to her cat, who was almost always – the lazy thing – sleeping in her bedroom.

"Buyo?" she looked around for the fat cat, but didn't see him anywhere. "Buyo?"

"Hey guys, I'm home!" she heard her little brother call from downstairs. She breathed a relieved sigh. Souta had come home. He would be able to help her find Buyo.

She got up and walked to the corridor. "Souta, could you help me find Buyo? He's gone." She tried to hide the panic in her voice, but it was useless. That cat... it was all she had left of her father, who had loved the animal.

"Relax, Sis, I'm sure we can find him." Souta said. He dropped his bag pack on the floor and shrugged off his jacket. "It's not like Buyo's that energetic. All he ever does is sleep. He's probably just in one of our bedrooms, curled up on one of our beds."

They searched everywhere, but couldn't find him. "Oh, where could he be?" Kagome asked herself. "The only place we haven't looked is…" "The well." They said in unison.

* * *

"Buuuuuyoooo." Souta's voice echoed through the well house. "Kagome? I'm kinda scared. It's so dark down there… Won't _you_look?" his voice was more high-pitched than usual.

_Scratch, scratch, scratch._

"What was that?" Souta whispered, jumping up to hide behind Kagome's back. "It's scratching!"

_Scratch, scratch, scratch._

"Hah! Scaredy Cat." She snorted. "That's probably just Buyo!"

Something was scratching against the closed well. But from the inside. Grandpa's anti-demon seal was still there, but it was the cat. Right?

_Scratch, scratch, scratch._

Oh _please_. It was just Buyo. Just the cat. Nothing else. She stalked past Souta and descended down the stairs. Suddenly she felt something soft against her legs.

"AAAH!"

_What_is _that!_

"Buyo? _Now_ who's the Scaredy Cat! Hah!" Souta pointed at Buyo, who was head butting against Kagome's left leg. Souta was making muffled noises in his sleeve that sounded a bit too much like giggles.

"Buyo!" Kagome cooed, ignoring the laughing Souta. "_There_ you are." She petted the fat cat, her back to the well.

_Scratch, scratch, scratch._

"But if Buyo's here, then what's down the-…" Kagome started, but before she could finish, the well unsealed and with a crash, the cover exploded.

"What's that? Sis! Behind you!"

Kagome started to run away from the well, but was sucked in. Then, arms wrapped around her, and dragged her down. She was blinded by a bluish light that enveloped her and her captor.

Down, down, they went and all Kagome could think was _I feel like I'm Alice from Alice in Wonderland_before the creature started talking to her.

"Ah, you brought me back to life. Now, give it to me!" Its voice was rough, and sounded like the creature had smoked all its life – it didn't suit the female face at all. "You have it, don't you?"

This, if possible, confused her even more.

"I have _what?" _she cried as the creature licked her face with its immensely long tongue.

"Yeeees… I can taste it on your skin. You _have_ it."

She looked at the creature, which was a huge cross between a snake and a woman, with three arms on each side. When she saw it, _really saw_it, Kagome screamed like she never had before, a high-pitched shriek that cut through the silence.

_Impossible. I must've bumped my head._ Really _hard. Yes. That's it!_

"Ewww! Get _away_ from me!" And with that, she shoved the creature away from her. Suddenly, a bright pink light enveloped her palm and blasted the snake youkai away from her.

Unfortunately, the Creepy Snake-Woman had also been the only thing that kept her floating. With another shriek, Kagome plunged down the well.

With a thump, she landed on her knees. Scouting the small area she was in, she found that Creepy Snake-Woman was nowhere to be found. All that was left of the Snake-Woman was one of her arms.

_Souta's probably still up there. I'm sure he can get me a ladder._

"Hey, Souta! Get grandpa," she yelled up the well. "And find me a ladder, _please_?"

"Souta? Hey, Souta? _Souta?_" her screams became more and more panicked as she realized no one was there.

_He must've been so scared he ran off to find grandpa._

She tried to stand up, but her pained ankle told her she had twisted it. She tried not to look at the aborted arm lying a few meters away.

_Ew, ew, _ew_! Here I am, in an old, _smelling_ well, with an injured leg and_ no_ Souta in sight to help me._

Pushing herself up, she began to climb the walls of the well, using the plants that grew on the sides to pull herself up.

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan,****near Edo – 1511**

It was almost dusk, and the sky was painted with a beautiful mix of red, blue and orange. But the silver-haired inuyoukai that was riding on a sparkling dust cloud didn't pay attention to the gorgeous scene in front of him. Over the years, he had gotten used to the beauty of nature.

His sidekick, Jaken, was riding on a dragon-steed named Ah-Un. Jaken was starting to grow impatient, and was fidgeting and rearranging the sleeves of his shaggy, brown haori all the time. His peculiar black hat was threatening to fall off.

"Jaken. _Stop_ that," ordered Sesshoumaru. "Now!"

The toad demon stopped tickling the old man's head on the Staff of Two Heads, who was giggling like a little girl, and looked at his master with his strange, yellow eyes.

"Sorry, M-master. Hai. I'll do a-as you say."

_Irritating little brat. Why did this Sesshoumaru _ever _allow Jaken to follow him?_

Sesshoumaru was in the near vicinity of Edo, the village were his younger half-brother was pinned to a tree.

His dense younger brother had allowed himself to fall in love with a village wench, and look what happened to him. No, he, Sesshoumaru, would never, ever be as dim-witted as that half-breed, his _brainless_ excuse of a brother… Inuyasha.

Jaken's squawky, high-pitched voice brought him back to reality. "Milord, can we find a place to set up camp? Y-you see, Ah-Un here is very tired and-" Ah-Un roared, indicating that he didn't feel tired at all.

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Very well. This Sesshoumaru will leave you two to find a place to set up camp. He has some _business_ to attend to."

Jaken made a strange sound of delight that sounded more like a whinny than anything else, and stuttered, "Arigatou, M-Milord, I'm _very_ grateful to-"

But Sesshoumaru had learned years ago that, most of the time, Jaken's nonsense wasn't worth paying attention to.

Ah-Un nudged Jaken, who, as usual, didn't even notice his Lord didn't pay any attention to his rambling. "H-huh? Milord? Oh. He's gone." Jaken looked slightly muddled when his Lord was nowhere to be found.

Sesshoumaru sped up his dust cloud even more and steered it in the direction of Inuyasha. He was just doing his yearly check-up on his ever-sleeping half brother.

When he felt it, it surprised him so much he couldn't move his cloud for a few minutes.

It was indescribable, something or somebody so strong he could feel his beasts' self-defense trying to take over even so far away from it.

Stop_it. This Sesshoumaru is in control of the situation. He can defend us. This Sesshoumaru wants to see the source of this immense power._

_**But we are afraid, **_his beast whimpered. _**Something as powerful as that could easily kill us without even lifting a hand! It's dangerous!**_

_Enough! _Sesshoumaru mentally roared and steered his cloud towards the blinding pink aura.

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Inuyasha's Forest – 1511**

Kagome pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the well. Taking in the different surroundings, she blinked. Once, twice. Shaking her head, she pinched herself in the arm.

_Ouch. Definitely_ not _a dream. No, this is reality_.

_**Uh-oh. I think we have a problem.**_

_Oh_ really_?_ She grimaced. _No kiddin'!_

_**So what are you going to do now?**_

_How should_ I _know? Hey, wait a second. Who're you?_

The voice in her head was the one of a woman. It was a high soprano, and sounded rather young. But the woman had stopped talking.

"_Strange_ things happen to me today," she muttered, and jumped up from her seat on the edge of the well. "It's like the shrine and my home never even _existed_ here!"

Yes, it was very odd. _What's happening to me? Am I crazy?_

No, no, she wasn't crazy. There must be a rational, _logical_ explanation for this. But the problem was, Kagome didn't have an explanation.

Muttering swear words under her breath, Kagome started walking around the well. When she saw the tree, she suddenly stopped.

_Goshinboku! The Tree of Ages. _Finally, _something I recognize._

She whooped, waving her hands in the air as she started running towards the tree that seemed to be a duplicate of the one at the family Shrine.

Pushing her way through the sharp leaves of bushes, cutting her arms and legs in the process, she noticed that it was one hell of a lot shorter than it was at home. Did that mean it was not the same tree as the one at home?

She stopped in her tracks when she noticed a boy surrounded and trapped by the roots of the tree. He was pinned to the tree by a very ancient-looking arrow.

However, that was not what made Kagome look closer. No, it was his silvery dog ears and long, silver mane, swishing in the wind that stood out. Kagome moved closer to the boy.

_Is he… dead?_

_**No, just asleep. The prick deserved it too, he insulted me all the time. And all he ever did was trying to use me for his own selfish plans,**_the woman scoffed. _**Like that was ever going to happen.**_

Kagome winced. There it was again. That voice in her head. She decided to ignore it for now and climbed up the tree.

The boy was handsome, and had looked very peaceful, but on closer inspection, she saw that the boy had thick, bushy eyebrows that hadn't been plucked in ages, maybe never, and he smelled a bit. And for some reason… he looked sad and depressed, even with his eyes closed.

_The dog ears are cute, though,_she decided, and reached up to rub his ears.

She had been rubbing them for a few seconds when she heard something behind her. She turned immediately and yelped when she saw some medieval-looking men with topknots holding brown short bows pointing in her direction.

She ducked under one of the tree's roots, and just in time, for she saw some arrows landing on the exact place she had just been standing.

"Stop it! I am not your enemy!" she yelled, trying to stand on her throbbing right foot. She had forgotten all about her injury.

"We'll listen to you _after_ High Priestess Kaede tells us you're not a demon."

_Demon? Me? They actually think_I'm _a demon?_

_**Well, dear, no offense, but your clothes are rather… revealing and people in this time are simply not used to that,**_the woman giggled. _**You look and**_**are**_**out of place and in this time. People are aware of everything that's not ordinary.**_

_Oh. Thanks, I guess. Now what?_

_**You're no youkai, so just wait until this priestess confirms you aren't.**_

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan,**** Edo – 1511  
**  
Kagome sighed internally and gazed at her knees. Her hands were tied behind her back, and the timeworn rope was cutting off her circulation. The villagers were speculating about her clothes and from the glares she received, it didn't look pretty.

After a few minutes, one of the top knotted men announced; "Make way for High Priestess Kaede!" and a woman pushed herself through the crowd, silencing every last one of them with her stern glares.

The High miko Kaede was a rather old, wise-looking woman. Her grayish-brown hair was swept up in a traditional miko's ponytail and her right eye was hidden by an iron tsuba that seemed to serve as an eye patch. The left eye, however, was still there and was small and almost black.

In her right hand, on the same side as her eye patch, she carried a long Saigu-Yumi, a Priestess Bow, and a quiver of Hamaya, Sacred Arrows, on her back.

She wore a chihaya, which consisted of a white jacket with cords through the sleeves, white kosode, a bright red hakama and tabi with rice sandals, which, now that Kagome thought of it, must have been a tradional outfit for miko, because she saw more women in the crowd wearing it.

The many lines in the face of Kaede were visible as she frowned at the young stranger. It was peculiar that the girl resembled her sister so. The same light blue eyes and ink black hair, but somehow, this girl looked like a much more pleasant woman to be around.

Momentarily handing over her Saigu-Yumi to one of the other miko, Kaede sprinkled the stranger with some anti-demon dust that looked suspiciously like salt, but all the girl did was brush it off. So, she was not a demon. Kaede lifted a grey brow. Interesting.

"What are ye, girl, if not a demon? Where are ye from, found in the forest of Inuyasha, wearing _those_?" she used her head to point at Kagome's scandalously short skirt.

"I'll have you know this is a _very_expensive uniform, from a respected high school, and it is a common thing to wear in Tokyo!" she told the old woman, her head lifted proudly.

But while she was telling the miko this, she glanced at the other women. Almost all of them wore traditional kimonos and long skirts.

_She's right. I_have_always thought that the skirts were short. But_everyone_wears them at home! Even so, it seems not appropriate in a place like this. People might think I'm a…_she shivered and tried to tug her skirt down …_a whore._

"To-ky-o?" the woman pronounced it like it consisted of three different words. "Is that where ye come from, youngster?"

Kagome nodded. "It's a big city, actually. It's one of the three most important cities where I come from," she sighed. "But I do not know how to go back."

"Hai. We miko might be able to help you," the older miko smiled at her. It was a much-needed sympathetic expression – the first since Kagome had arrived in this foreign place. "We'll discuss this over a warm meal."

Kagome nodded and grinned while she allowed the woman to unbind her wrists. The ropes left some nasty, red cuts. She winced slightly, rubbing the throbbing marks.

This did not go unnoticed by the High Miko Kaede. "I'm sorry about those," she said, as her hands were starting to glow a faint pink. She touched the tender skin on Kagome's wrist and after a few seconds, the red marks started to fade.

Kagome looked at Kaede with new eyes, her mouth forming a little o. The miko had healing powers? "Can you…-" she pointed at her twisted foot. Kaede nodded and healed her foot, too.

_**Not as "impossible" as you thought, huh?**_ she heard the high soprano say, her snickers echoing over and over in her mind.

_I guess not,_she shrugged. _But I'm_ still_ not entirely sure this isn't a dream._

_**Just as stubborn as the last one,**_ she thought she heard the voice declare.

_The "last one"? What does she mean by that? _

Kagome stood up, following miko Kaede. The old lady was stumbling towards a huge hut, using her long Saigu-Yumi as walking stick. _Well, I guess that's the least of my concerns now._ And with that, she dismissed it – for now.

A huge kettle hung over an equally big fire. One of the elder miko stood in front of it, leaning on her Saigu-Yumi. She dropped all kinds of herbs, seemingly grabbing random ones from the table behind her, stirring the whole mix and tasting it now and then.

Kagome swallowed hard. _I_do _hope that's edible,_she thought, and she started fidgeting as she waited for Kaede and the other miko to be seated. A few miko were staring at her with an awe-inspired look in their eyes.

_I'm not_ that _weird. Am I?_

"Now, youngster, why don't ye tell me how ye came here, to Inuyasha's Forest, and what that incredible power that ye carry with ye is."

She quickly ate some of her stew. It tasted better than she expected.

"Well, I was looking for my cat when something dragged me into the well. It was a huge snake demon with a woman's head and torso." she shivered involuntarily, remembering the creepy creature. "She, or it, told me I 'had it' and 'had to give it to her'." Kagome said, frowning a bit, while trying to remember what exactly the Snake had said.

"Then I screamed and pushed her away from me, and this enormous, pink light shocked one of her arms off. After that, I climbed out of the well and I stood in, as you call it, Inuyasha's Forest."

The miko started murmuring things about a 'Bone Eaters' Well' and one 'Mistress Centipede', but Kagome interrupted their musings.

"Excuse me, but could you tell me what year it is?"

They looked bewildered. "Why, we're in the Muromachi Period, of course!" one of them said, laughing a bit. When Kagome didn't reply she said, "We're in the eleventh year since Emperor Go-Kashiwabara started ruling Japan."

_That means… It's 1511? _Kagome thought, remembering the history classes she'd had.

With a sharp intake of breath, Kagome pinched herself as hard as she could. But she didn't wake up. "What? Time travel? But that's…-" she muttered, trying to stop the tornado of thoughts in her head.

… _**Impossible? Apparently, it is not. **_The voice again. But this time, she believed it. It had to be true. Impossible, but true. And if would explain the disappearance of the Higurashi Shrine and the change in the Goshinboku, which had shrunk.

"This might be a little unexpected, but where I come from, it's 2011." she looked up a bit unwillingly, into the astonished faces of about four miko.

She quickly stuffed her mouth full with some stew, waiting for one of them to start laughing now. But instead, they all looked at each other and nodded.

Kaede was the first one to say something. "To speak truthfully, it doesn't surprise me in the least. Yer manner of speak, dress and yer sudden appearance is peculiar, and stranger things have happened in the Forest of Inuyasha." The other miko nodded when she said the latter.

They waited for her to start talking, their faces open and encouraging. "About this… power. Do you know what it is? Am I a miko? And _what_ was the thing that attacked me earlier?"

Kaede grinned. "One at a time youngster. Oh my, I haven't even asked for your name yet, have I?"

"My name is Kagome." she said, bowing her torso slightly.

"Well, I do think you're a miko, and a very powerful one at that. I recognize you as the reincarnation of one I knew _personally_." Her eyes became softer, and she seemed to be reminiscing for a few moments, before she snapped to attention again. "As for this power, I'm not _entirely_ sure about that, but I have an idea of wh-…"

Her explanation was cut off by a bloodcurdling shriek from outside and a yell of: "It's Mistress Centipede! She's back!"

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**A/N: ****Thanks for reading my story! I do realize it's a bit (OK, much) longer than most of the stuff out there, but I like it this way. As for the length of this fanfiction – I personally have no idea. **

**I will not be retelling every single episode, only the most important ones. It will be my favorite shipping from Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru/Kagome, and yes, Shippou and the others do join. Rin, too!**** If you have a suggestion as to which episodes I should include and which ones I shouldn't, please comment. **

**I will try not to make them**_**too**_**much OOC. (I mean, I'm not kidding myself, Sesshy loving Kagome **_**would **_**be OOC. But beyond that, I will try to keep them in character.) **

**Guessing game: who's the voice in Kagome's head? *grins***

**Also, if you have any,**_**any**_**questions or if you spot a spelling mistake (even after my awesome beta-ing), please do tell me! Feedback is always appreciated.**

**And, the beginning may be a bit similar to the first episode, but after that it will be very, very different. Basically, Inuyasha will be replaced ****by Sesshoumaru! :)**

**- Erliane**

**Final Word Count: 6792**


	2. The mark of the crescent moon

_**- **__**Chapter Two-  
**__**The mark of the Crescent Moon.**_

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**Disclaimer: **Do you think owning an Inuyasha manga counts as owning the rights to the story? No? Shoot! Well, I'll just wait for my next birthday and ask Rumiko Takahashi for them, nicely. Sesshoumaru would be _so _much better as titular character, don't you think?

**A/N: I've gotten a few messages and reviews for the first chapter. 'Tis not much, but I'****m glad some people read it. So because I'm in a generous mood today (it's Christmas, after all) here you are guys, the second chapter! I had so much fun writing this one. **

**By the way, can you guys tell me which episodes of the anime you want to see in this story, and which ones you don't? Especially the ones about Yura of the Hair, because I'm seriously thinking about skipping her.**

**Merry Christmas!**

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**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Edo – 1511  
**Sesshoumaru arrived just in time to be able to sense the power emanating from a petite ningen girl who couldn't be much older than sixteen. It was immeasurable, even for him, one of the most important daiyoukai of Japan.

He sniffed the air, trying to remember her scent – it might come in handy later. The salty aroma from the sea nearby overpowered his senses. Edo was a fishing village, which was obvious, since it lay close to the shore. Everywhere he looked he could see men dragging and emptying fishing nets. At the market on the other side of the village, he could hear the _swish, swish, swish _of some women cleaning the fish, while others were shouting and praising their wares. Only one of the stalls sold something else, for he could hear cloth-like items flutter in the wind.

In the north of this province, Sagami, where Edo was situated, he could smell the strong scent of the kitsune that inhabited it. They had always preferred to live in close proximity with the humans, playing tricks on them and deceiving them. They were shape-shifters, and if they were trained, they could take on the shape of almost every creature, living or otherwise.

He looked at the girl… could she be a kitsune in disguise? No, her scent was clearly that of a human – it was the only thing a kitsune could not copy.

Being closer to the girl, he could examine her without her detecting his presence. He lifted a brow as he realized this power reminded him a lot of the miko that used to be infatuated with his hanyou brother. What was her name again? Ki-something.

Was this ningen a miko, then? Knitting his brow, he concentrated and tried to find the core of her powers again. _Ah_, yes, she was a miko. But there was more. He could feel a powerful miko aura crackling under something of much, much more importance.

His mind connected with the object, and he could hear voices whisper, trying to make him drunk with the need to acquire it. His beast began whimpering and tried to take over as he heard the promises of great power and the ability to make every wish come true, but Sesshoumaru shook its influence off. He snorted and mentally roared at the bizarre object.

_How dare you question this Sesshoumaru. He will not be so easily swayed, _and with a short nod, he dashed rapidly closer to the hut the little ningen had entered, unseen to the human eye behind one of the thickly leafed bushes.

Concealing his powerful daiyoukai aura the best he could, he smirked a little when none of the miko came out to _try _to slay him. Just as he had thought. They were too occupied with making the little ningen girl comfortable, and were currently trying to make her talk.

He could hear their breath and heartbeats quicken when she did.

One of the best things of being an inuyoukai was the great sense of hearing. Even from his hiding place meters from the hut, with his heightened senses Sesshoumaru could hear them talk as if he was standing next to them.

He lifted a pale, narrow brow and sighed as he realized the little ningen knew no more, maybe even less, about the origin of the extraordinary power. His facial expression turned to astonishment when he heard about her living five hundred years in the future, though.

_What's this about strange clothes? _Yes, her skirt was unreasonably short. _But apparently, where she comes from, that is customary._

He leaned closer to the hut when he heard the High Miko knew something about the power, curious about her answer.

Suddenly, he could feel an ominous aura approaching. It was that of a lesser demon, but for humans, it would be dangerous, very dangerous. He snorted. Humans were _so _weak.

One of the humans shrieked when the snake demon dug its teeth in his skin. After a few seconds, all the villagers began screaming and running into to their homes, barring the doors and closing the shutters.

_Dense humans. Do they really think a hut can protect them from a berserk demon?_

From inside the miko's hut, they could hear crashing and the terrified whinnying of panicking horses. Somewhere on the other side of the village, people were banging on an alarm gong.

All the miko quickly grabbed their Saigu-Yumi and dashed outside to join the villagers - to help fight off the enormous creature.

Kaede grabbed Kagome's hand and dragged her outside. "Do not stay inside the hut, youngster. The sheer size of that demon is enough to bring a hut down."

From his hiding place, Sesshoumaru nodded. This woman, who wore the crest of the High Miko, knew what she was doing. She and the other miko could probably keep the little ningen girl and her foreign power safe. And if she couldn't, he'd make sure she'd be safe. The power, if it fell into the hands of, say, an evil demon, could be a danger to him, his territory – The Western Lands, and the entire empire.

When they were outside, Kagome could see the same demon that had dragged her down the well, only this time, it looked even _more _furious.

"It's the hebime again!" she heard Kaede shout. The miko were already firing their Sacred Arrows at the overgrown serpent, but it was swift and dodged all of them.

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**[****A/N: Hebime would mean Serpent/Snake Woman. I made it up with a kanji dictionary. I **_**think**_** it's correct Japanese, but it sounds nice anyway. :P]**

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The creature was clutching a full-grown stallion between her teeth. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Kagome thought, _Wow, it must be very strong to be able to carry that horse!_

As soon as it caught sight of Kagome, the hebime dropped the horse and went after the shrieking girl. Kagome started rushing towards were she came from, the Forest of Inuyasha.

With a cry of "Give me the Sacred Jewel!", the Serpent Woman collided with a hut to get closer to Kagome.

Kaede was surprised when she heard the reincarnation of her sister bore the Sacred Jewel, the same Jewel her sister had sacrificed her life for to remove it from this world, but figured she had no time to analyze the situation better. She motioned for the miko to follow her, mounted one of the horses and together they rushed after Kagome and the hebime.

Sesshoumaru, who had been following the girl up until now, was equally as astonished.

_Well, that explains the immense power this Sesshoumaru sensed earlier. _He looked at the serpent, who came a bit too close to harming the girl, and debated whether he should help her or not.

No. He really didn't want to make his presence know n, and the miko were already closing in on the shrieking girl and the Snake Woman.

"Lure it to the dry well," Kaede shouted loud enough for Kagome to hear her. "The one you climbed out of, Kagome!"

"Sure, where the light is shining, right?"

Kaede's eyes widened in surprise. _She really _is _a miko if she can see the light from Kikyo's arrow!_

Kagome ran as fast as she could, but was, of course, no match for the Serpent Woman. She never _had_ been a fast runner, and this creature had inhuman speed, too.

The hebime came closer and closer, until it drove its teeth into Kagome's shoulder.

"Ah!" she yelped. "Somebody, _help me!_" her cry was terrified.

Kaede heard it her voice. Kagome had infused her cry for help with her miko powers. Kaede quickly looked over at the formerly frozen form of Inuyasha.

If Kagome had the heightened hearing senses of an inuyoukai like Sesshoumaru, who was currently crouching behind Goshinboku, maybe she'd hear Inuyasha say, "I smell the blood of the woman that killed me," and thought twice about releasing him.

But alas, none of the miko had the hearing of an inuyoukai, and so all they could see was the angry flexing of his clawed fingers and the fang-revealing growl.

Sesshoumaru lifted a pale eyebrow. His brother though the girl was his miko?

The purple light around Kikyou's arrow grew brighter, seemingly unwilling to let Inuyasha go. He pulled at it, but it simply scorched the flesh of his left hand and refused to move an inch. The spell was only half broken.

Meanwhile, Kagome was still running for her life, clutching her bleeding shoulder with one hand, blood trickling behind her in a steady pool of red.

She ran up a hill, and when Mistress Centipede collided with a tree, Kagome landed on her face in front of the Goshinboku.

Sesshoumaru didn't even have to sniff the air, he could easily smell her blood as she was lying on the ground. It was, obviously, not, as Inuyasha apparently thought, the blood of his miko, Kikyou, but the blood of another woman.

_His hanyou senses must be inferior to the ones of this Sesshoumaru, _he thought, smirking a little when he found out about another of his brothers' weaknesses. It was amusing, but he wouldn't allow his hanyou brother to kill the ningen and give him the unknown power for Christmas, that was for sure.

Inuyasha snarled and rasped, "Psst, Kikyou, what's wrong?" he raised a black eyebrow when he saw her school uniform. "Why are you wearing those weird clothes?"

Kagome looked up, albeit a bit dumbfounded, into the face of the boy she'd observed earlier, pinned to the Tree of Ages. She stared at him, unable to speak.

_Did he just talk? He's… awake? But I thought he was eversleeping._

This time, the voice in her head sounded slightly disappointed. _**Hai. You woke him when you cried for help.**_

"What's wrong, Kikyou, forgot how to use a bow?" He looked at her empty hands. "Hey, where _is_ your bow? Did'ya lose it to that Snake Woman?" he snickered.

"Who's Kikyou?" she looked over her shoulder to make sure he was talking to _her, _and when she didn't see any other people, she yelled, "My name's _Kagome_. Not Kikyou."

She ducked twice to avoid a shrieking Mistress Centipede, who was currently curling around the tree and the patch of grass she stood on.

"And who're you?" she said, thinking about it. The forest _was _named Inuyasha's Forest. It was possible that they named it after him, depending on how long he'd been sealed to the tree.

Inuyasha. The name sounded suspiciously familiar to her. Kikyou too, now that she thought of it. She tried to remember where she'd heard it.

_Must've been one of Grandpa's stories. But which one? _

The villagers drove a harpoon-like weapon with a sturdy rope tied to it into the side of Mistress Centipede, and started dragging her away from Kagome.

The miko were readying their bows, but Kaede shook her head. She wanted to see what Kagome could do when in danger.

"What's that miko doing," Sesshoumaru muttered from behind the Goshinboku, low enough so Inuyasha couldn't hear him. "Does she want the ningen to die?"

_This Sesshoumaru might have to step in and save her anytime now, _he thought, looking at the squirming Hebime, who had almost managed to wriggle the harpoon-like weapon in her side out.

"Are you Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, climbing on one of the trees' roots.

He nodded. "See, you know who I am, so you've _gotta_ be Kikyou."

"What makes you think I'm Kikyou?"

_Ugh. W__hat an irritating, immature boy, _she thought, wrinkling her nose. _He smells, too._

"Well, ya look like her, ya smell like her-" he sniffed the air after he said that, and his eyes grew wide immediately after. "-wait, you're not her!"

From behind the Goshinboku, Sesshoumaru snickered. His brother was _so _dense at times like this.

"That's what I told you! I'm not _her_!" she yelled in his face.

His face flushed. "Uuuhh… Whoops?" he looked away, trying to hide his blushing cheeks. "Anyway, it should've been obvious. Kikyou was much, much prettier." he muttered, averting his eyes as if it would hurt to look at her.

_What happened to 'ya look like her'? _Kagome and Sesshoumaru thought in unison.

Suddenly, hands grabbed her from behind. "Ah!" she turned around, looking into the fanged face of Mistress Centipede.

She grabbed two strands of Inuyasha's hair, the only thing she could hold onto now, and braced herself. _Ouch. That serpent is _strong.

_**You knew that already, dear. **_The woman in her head! She'd forgotten about the voice.

Her voice was pleading. _No sarcasm, please, help me! What do I do?_

_**Can't help you, **_the woman in her head yawned. _**You'll just have to help yourself. Or ask the dog boy in front of you for help.**_

_Oh! Of course. The dog-eared boy_. Who was currently squirming and yelling at her to let go of his hair. _He really smells like a dog, _she thought, slightly amused.

"Give me the Sacred Jewel! Give it to me!" the Serpent repeated over and over.

"I don't have it! Now let _go _of me!"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. This girl bore the Sacred Jewel?

Still crouched behind the Goshinboku, Sesshoumaru cursed mentally. Now his brother knew about the Sacred Jewel too. _Should this Sesshoumaru interfere now?_

He shook his head. _No, this Sesshoumaru will at least give her a change to defend herself_.

He glanced at the girl. In front of his eyes, the serpent opened its fanged mouth and prepared to attack her, but the girls' hands suddenly glowed pink, engulfing her and Inuyasha's bodies with a tornado of blinding pink light.

'Hey, watch it!" Inuyasha snarled when her power scorched his right cheek.

The light died down and Mistress Centipede was lying on the floor, having lost at least three more arms.

When the attack had died down, Sesshoumaru could determine from the scent in the air that she had only used the power of the Sacred Jewel. It had acted on its own accord – apparently it had its own will, like Tenseiga, the sword Sesshoumaru had inherited from his father.

The power of the Sacred Jewel alone was not enough, _that_ he was sure of. Without her miko powers backing up the attack, the jewel didn't have much to multiply. It was a miracle it even worked, since the girl seemed unable to use her miko powers.

Kagome had fallen on the ground, and was currently looking a bit sheepishly at her hands.

Disgusted, she scooted away from the still smoking arms lying in front of her. _I did it again! But how the hell did I do it?_

Rubbing a layer of soot from her face, she looked down and at the bright pink light shining in her side, a look of amazement on her face. _And _what _is that light?_

But she wasn't the only one that noticed it. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha saw it, too, both staring at it with a dazed look on their faces.

Damn it! There it was again. The attack apparently amplified the jewel's inner voice and attraction to demons. It was again whispering promises of power, and it was overwhelming Sesshoumaru's senses. His eyes turned a bloody red as his beast tried to take over yet again.

_**We… must… have… it! **_his beast whined, and his claws elongated. It was maddening, the power of the jewel, but _he_ didn't want it. He would earn his powers _on his own. _It would be much more satisfying that way, anyway.

But the hebime could see the light too. Sesshoumaru was fighting off the influence of his beast, but where he refused to give up, the hebime had given in to the urge a long time ago. Mistress Centipede seemed to have lost all reason and charged with an astonishing speed at Kagome. The huge mouth opened again, and the hebime bit, this time successfully, in the soft flesh under Kagome's left breast.

Mistress Centipede let go, and with a splash of blood, a sparkling pink ball came out of Kagome's body and landed in front of her.

When it came out of Kagome, the jewel stopped whispering. Inuyasha was the first to collect himself. Probably because he had only half a beast to internally fight with.

"Gimme the jewel!" Inuyasha commanded. "And be quick about it!"

"Huh?"

"Hurry, wench, she's almost here!" he growled, and he was right, because the Snake Woman was coming right at them again.

The hebime curled around her and the tree and before she could even touch the pink jewel, she was crushed against the arrogant dog boy. Clutching another bleeding wound, she tried to stay as far from him as possible in the small space between them and Mistress Centipede's body.

In the meantime, Sesshoumaru was still crouched behind the Goshinboku, holding himself up with one hand while the other clutched his face. He was still trying to overpower his furious beast, shouting and arguing in his mind with the stubborn creature.

The hebime's laugh was nauseating. It began provoking his half-brother.

"I heard some half demon spawn was after the jewel and then sealed to a tree." the creature said, its voice raspy and annoying. "That's you, right? I can smell your dirty human blood…"

Kagome looked at the boy with wide eyes. _Half demon? I thought for sure he'd be a full-blooded youkai. At least he's arrogant enough to be one._

Inuyasha snorted, his nose high in the air. "Half's all I need to kick your ass, really." he challenged, hoping the Snake Woman would be offended.

The hebime didn't look impressed. "Oh, _we'll see_ about that." it cooed, winking at him.

"Listen," Kagome said, looking a bit annoyed. "You talk big, but can you, really? 'Kick her ass' like you said?"

Inuyasha looked simply flabbergasted. He wasn't used to anyone doubting him, at least not humans. Humans were usually just afraid of him. But this girl looked like he _hadn't_ insulted her minutes before this conversation.

"Huh? Sure I can," he said matter-of-factly.

Kagome snorted. For some reason, everything that came out of the boy's mouth was either boasting or an insult.

The hebime cackled, listening in on their conversation. "No, you can't. You're sealed to a tree. And I'm not afraid of this girl who can't even summon her own miko powers, or you for that matter!" the hebime moved closer to the jewel. "You are powerless, unable to do anything."

Its long tongue came out of her mouth, closing around the glowing jewel that had rolled away from the Goshinboku, a few meters from them.

Sesshoumaru tried to stop the hebime, _tried_ to summon his lightning whip. His fingers started glowing, and the glow was just growing longer to form into the whip when his beast self stopped him yet again from interfering.

With a soft groan, he sat back again and hoped the ningen, or even Inuyasha could do something to stop the hebime from becoming a dangerous monster to Japan.

_This Sesshoumaru was right – the power is a danger to anyone. It must not fall into the hands of someone who would abuse its powers._

He looked at the hebime's tongue that curled around the jewel, and at the astonished face of the girl and his half-brother, who were both, just like him, unable to do anything.

_This Sesshoumaru hates being weak. It's a good thing this Sesshoumaru can't kill his inner beast, or he would have now. _

He watched as the creature swallowed, and heard his brother cry, "Don't you dare!", which, of course, didn't stop the hebime from ingesting the jewel.

He heard the cries of "Lady Kaede, it swallowed the jewel!" and shook his head when he saw the miko looking at High Miko Kaede for orders.

It was useless now. Pure foolishness for humans to try and fight this monster. The High Miko should have known better and should have killed the hebime while she could.

Now all he could do was hope, hope that_ someone – _maybe the little ningen girl, or even his brother – could kill the demon. His beast would not let him attack it now, not allowing him to risk shattering the jewel.

The arms lying around the creature, the ones that Kagome shocked off, began to glow a strange red and started to soar back to their owner.

Kagome shivered and cried, "Oh no, it's re-arming…"

In the possession of all her arms but one (the one that Kagome blasted of in the well), the hebime started trembling all over.

Sesshoumaru sighed sadly and watched as it exploded and transformed, its human part looking much more like a skull now – dark purple with peculiar pink spots across its upper body. Its eyes glowed a blood red, looking even more frightening than before.

The newly transformed hebime laughed triumphantly, and started her retreat from around the tree, pulling Kagome with her.

She clutched Inuyasha's red haori tightly, her fingers bloody from trying to stem the bleeding gashes in her shoulder and belly.

"Hey," he whispered, "can you pull this arrow out?"

"Why should I be able t-"

"Just shut up and try it!"

Kaede dismounted and ran to the tree. "If ye pull out that arrow, Inuyasha will destroy us all!" she warned the child, but it was useless. Her hand was already going towards the arrow.

Inuyasha laughed and said, "At least, with me, you've got a chance!" he used his head to point at the demon, "whereas _that _thing is going to eat you for dinner!"

Sesshoumaru was mentally scolding the girl for waiting this long. The hebime must've been _deaf, _not hearing their plan. Or maybe it was waiting on purpose, not fearing the half-demon?

Sesshoumaru snorted. Underestimating enemies. One of the typical traits of a lesser demon. He knew from experience that half demons could be strong, too, if they were trained well.

The girl nodded in agreement and reached up. When she tugged, the arrow started glowing pink. She cried out in pain – the bleeding wound in her side must have hurt a lot from the effort – and the arrow dissolved in her hand, leaving only a small explosion of light pink sparks.

Inuyasha's heart suddenly started beating again, a white glow surrounding his body.

"It's… gone," Kaede whispered, looking both proud of the girl and afraid of what Inuyasha would do now that he was free. "She used her miko powers… and broke the seal!"

One of the pink sparks that had come from the dissipating arrow landed on the waning crescent moon on Sesshoumaru's forehead. He flinched when the mark began to lit up.

_It's purifying this Sesshoumaru's mind, _he thought, his mouth forming a little o. _The little girl is putting This Sesshoumaru's beast at ease. How… ironic, for she was the one that started this, too._

When it was done, he sat back against the tree, observing his little brother who, apparently, didn't seem to understand that he was free yet.

Sesshoumaru smirked. He'd just observe now. His brother was, after all, half inuyoukai, and would probably be able to kill the hebime if they could get the jewel out in time.

If his brother wanted to steal the jewel afterwards, he'd interfere. He nodded. Yes, it was the perfect plan.

In the meantime, Kagome was looking a bit flabbergasted at her right hand, which was still folded in a fist. She didn't actually think she'd be able to remove the spell on Inuyasha, but she had.

Inuyasha didn't look dazed for long. After a few seconds of staring and blinking at his chest, he started chuckling. It grew louder and louder until he sounded like a mad witch cackling.

The hebime tightened her grip around the Goshinboku again until Inuyasha couldn't be seen anymore. Suddenly, the part of the hebime where Inuyasha had been exploded. Bright yellow sparks cut their way through the purple body.

Sesshoumaru nodded approvingly. He had inherited that one from their late father.

From the force of Inuyasha's _Sankon Tesso _('Iron Reaver Soul Stealer'), Kagome was thrown back meters from the Goshinboku.

She could see Inuyasha in the darkness, roaring and spreading his arms while he leapt through the air with inhuman speed.

_Oh. I guess he _can _kick the creature's ass, then, _she thought, barely believing it herself. _I guess I got lucky._

With multiple flips, Inuyasha landed just in front of the hebime. Drawing his claws through thin air, he showed off his Iron Claw technique.

Sesshoumaru shook his head and clucked his tongue – although he did enjoy the show, wasting youki was not something he approved of.

_How… unprofessional. _

The hebime screeched and attacked, its many arms spread in front of its face, claws out. On the other side, Inuyasha started running and leapt in the air, also ready to attack.

"Iron Reaver… SOUL STEALER!" he screamed, drawing his right hand, his clawing hand, behind his back for more force, and swung at the terrifying Snake Woman.

When he hit it, he hit it hard, his iron claws cutting neatly through meters and meters of its body, including its fanged mouth.

"Hah! See? I can kick its ass alright." With a satisfied smirk he landed on the ground.

Bits and pieces of the demon were scattered over a surface of nearly three hundred square meters.

Kagome sat somewhere in the middle of it, brushing some things she really didn't want to identify from her skirt. She saw that one of the arms on a particularly large part of the hebime was still moving, trying to attach some of its loose pieces to its mutated body.

"EW! It's still moving!" she shouted, pointing at the arm that had moved. She was trembling all over. _How is it that the Snake Woman is still moving? Shouldn't it be… dead? _she thought, scratching her head while she thought about it.

She had momentarily forgotten about her wounds, and moving her hand did wonders to make her remember again. _Ouch! Forgot… about… Damn it, _she clutched the large gash in her side. _Hurts._

Kaede stood behind her, supporting her weight by gripping her non-wounded shoulder.

"Quickly, youngster, find the glowing flesh. That's where the jewel is. If we don't find it, it'll revive again."

Kagome nodded. _So it was the jewel that 'saved' the creatures life?_

She quickly began searching the bits and pieces of the Snake Woman. She saw that the other miko were doing the same.

They spotted the jewel all at the same time – it wasn't that hard to find, for the large part that it was embedded in was starting to float. Kaede hurried over and quickly wretched the jewel out of a squirming and protesting part of Mistress Centipede.

With a thud, the formerly floating piece fell to the ground. Immediately after, the skin of the demon dissipated and only the bones were left.

Kaede stalked over to the girl, gripping the jewel firmly in her hands, and looking with suspicion barely hid from her eyes at an innocent-looking Inuyasha.

She then offered the pink jewel to Kagome, who pointed at herself as if to say "Who me?" and, when Kaede nodded, she accepted it.

"Only ye, my child, may possess the Shikon no Tama. It has chosen ye." She smiled at the young girl. _Like it chose my sister, who so resembles ye._

"I _do _wonder why I have been chosen by a jewel wanted by demons." she muttered, admiring the shiny pink object, turning it over between her fingers.

From behind the Goshinboku, Sesshoumaru nodded. _Hai. This Sesshoumaru is thinking the same thing. Why does a ningen girl, nearly unable to defend herself, possess an object as powerful as The Sacred Jewel? Why _did _it choose her? _

His musings were interrupted by a very loud crash as Inuyasha stepped on one of the bones of Mistress Centipede, looking very menacing.

_Ah. Here he comes. This Sesshoumaru was… waiting for this._

"I agree. Humans can't use it, so why bother to keep it?" he smirked. "Now, if you hand it over like a good girl, I won't start sharpening my-" he flexed his clawed fingers, "-claws on you." Inuyasha threatened, looking like he meant it.

_It must be the influence of the jewel, _Sesshoumaru mused, _for normally, my soft-hearted little brother would think twice about harming and old lady and a teenaged girl. He doesn't approve of harming humans, because he is one himself._

Sesshoumaru _did _agree with him about not harming _human _women and children, though. There was no honor in it – they could not defend themselves. Miko were a whole other story, though – especially if they tried to kill him.

With a sharp nod, Sesshoumaru stood up and began preparing his fingers for his Whip of Light. If the humans could not protect the Keeper of the Sacred Jewel, he would. He was a little reluctant to show himself though – he didn't want people to think he was suddenly as soft-hearted as his little brother and late father, for he wasn't.

But if he had to interfere, he would. The jewel would be a danger in the wrong hands – and in his brothers' hands it surely was a danger. Sesshoumaru knew that his brother wanted to be a full-blooded youkai. But he also knew it would be foolish to try. As hanyou, Inuyasha wasn't used to a full-blood beast self. He would be unable to fight off the influence of his much, much, stronger beast. And when that happened, he would destroy everyone – humans and demons alike.

No, Sesshoumaru had to prevent that from happening. His reputation wouldn't suffer _that _much from saving a little human girl once.

The girl looked frightened out of her mind, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Then, her expression turned angry and she scoffed. _'Sharpening my claws on you'? What, he did it all for the jewel? This one's even worse than Mistress Centipede! Cursed jewel!_

Inuyasha started growling, growing more impatient by the second. "I _hate _having to wait!" he spat, "And I hate the smell of you!"

Kagome snorted. "The smell of _me? _Now _look_ who's talking." she said, pinching her nose and waving her hand in front of it. "At least I have the decency to clean myself every once in a while, _half _demon. _You _smell like you haven't seen a bath in years!" she pointed at him, snickering.

_She _is _right. He reeks like a stinking wolf! _Sesshoumaru smirked. The girl was spirited, indeed. She would not be able to hurt the hanyou physically, but she would hurt him with her words, for sure.

Inuyasha's expression was a bit astonished until he roared and began charging right at her. Sesshoumaru slid closer to them through the bushes, ready to interfere if needed.

The girl started running frantically, but tripped over one of Mistress Centipede's bones. Inuyasha leapt into the air and clawed at her, missing her by mere inches.

_Ah, he missed. This Sesshoumaru sees he is trying to fight off the influence of the jewel, but he will not succeed. Otherwise, he'd never have missed. _He sighed. _ Inuyasha is _so_ weak._

The miko tried to hit him with their Sacred Arrows, but he dodged all of them. He jumped and clawed at the trees surrounding the miko, and the tops fell off. The miko had to run to avoid him. He smirked. The miko were distracted and he could get the jewel now.

"You can't hurt me. Not like I hurt that Centipede." he yelled at them, wildly waving his claws to prove his point while he said it.

Kaede sighed and pulled out a necklace of subjugation. It was a necklace that consisted mostly of dark purple, round beads, and a few cream-colored magatama beads.

"Somehow, I knew it'd come to this." Sighing, she bowed her head and started infusing her miko powers into the necklace.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was chasing Kagome, jumping from tree to tree. His speed was much slower than that of a full-blooded demon, and Kagome was thankful for that.

He used a tree as launching pad and clawed at her yet again. She used both her hands to shield her face from the lighting strikes, and in the process, the jewel rolled on the ground.

Sesshoumaru was still waiting for the perfect moment to interfere. It would come soon, he was sure of that. But if he'd step in now, Inuyasha would undoubtedly kill the girl before he could even lift a hand to help her.

"Hah! Now it's mine!" he could hear his brother say, as he used another tree as launching pad and pushed himself to the place where the jewel lay.

Sesshoumaru looked at the High Miko, who was concentrating hard. The necklace was glowing brighter and brighter, until the beads were nearly invisible.

With loud pangs, the beads disconnected themselves from the thread that held them, and started swarming towards Inuyasha.

_What is she doing? _Sesshoumaru thought, looking from the miko to Inuyasha and back again.

Inuyasha had nearly landed when the glowing pink beads hit him from all sides. He stared at them a bit dumbfounded. "Huh? What's that! What're ya doin' to me?"

The glowing stopped and Inuyasha landed on a rock, pulling on the necklace. "What the heck are _these, _witch!"

"Youngster! Quickly! Say the word of subjugation!" Kaede yelled at Kagome.

"Huh? What word?" she breathed, picking up the jewel and running towards the river.

"It matters not. Any word will do. Your word has the power to hold his spirit."

_She can hold his spirit? Interesting._ Sesshoumaru thought, _maybe she can stop him after all._

She stumbled towards the river, but the ground on the side was loose and she fell down, losing the jewel yet again. It bounced halfway down the bridge.

Inuyasha jumped and growled, "Hold my spirit. Yeah right. She can't even stop herself from falling!"

Kagome quickly sat up as she watched him get closer to the jewel. If she didn't do something now, he'd get it for sure! _Quickly, Kagome, think. A word of subjugation. But which one?_

She looked at Inuyasha's dog ears. _Hmmm. So he's a dog demon, right?_

_This is taking too long! _Sesshoumaru thought, _he's almost got it!_

Deciding that he couldn't wait any longer for the miko girl to prove herself, he leapt into the air, readying his Lighting Whip.

Inuyasha landed on the bridge with a thud, and was reaching for the jewel when he felt something on his shoulder. He spun around to face his older brother, a look of pure astonishment on his face.

Sesshoumaru smirked when he saw the look of disbelief on his brothers' face. He brought his right hand up. The Lighting Whip struck Inuyasha's left cheek, it's clash echoing over the river.

At exactly the same time, Kagome shouted, "Sit, boy!", and her voice joined in the echo of Sesshoumaru's whip. Kagome's eyes widened when she saw the intruder. _Is that a… woman? No, I _think_ it is a man. And… he prevented Inuyasha from possessing the jewel? Why?_

With a scream, Inuyasha was dragged down and plunged through the bridge, and into the water, the glowing beads all that could be seen through the rapidly streaming water. All he could think of was why. _Why_ was his brother here, protecting a… _human, _of all things? Well, not really a human, mostly the jewel, but still. It was so unlike Sesshoumaru to interfere with human business.

Dripping, and with a crestfallen expression on his face, he emerged from the river, growling loudly when he saw his brother again.

Sesshoumaru looked over at the human girl, who was currently staring at him – her mouth was hanging open – and he smirked at her. Turning to Inuyasha, he let his whip collide with his brothers' tender flesh.

He growled. _Weak, so very _weak! He could just kill Inuyasha now, instead of waiting until his insolent brother was mature. Yes, maybe he _would _kill his brother. It would be better that way. He would pay for being the reason their father was dead now.

Kagome gazed at the golden-eyed youkai that had saved her – no, the jewel. He had saved the jewel. Admiring his silvery hair and the sharp angles of his face, she realized her mouth was hanging open. With a snap, she shut it.

_Saved by another dog-boy, it seems. He looks like Inuyasha, too. Maybe they're family?_

Things about killing and insolent brothers and weakness echoed through her mind. But they were not her thoughts, and not of the woman that had spoken to her before.

With a sharp intake of breath, she realized the thoughts came from the silver-haired inuyoukai in front of her.

_**How did you do that, Kagome? **_the woman in her mind asked. _**It can't be the power of the jewel. What happened? Why are you able to read his mind?**_

_I'm not sure, _she said, _but maybe he knows the reason._

"Please, do not kill him!" she pleaded, watching as he struck his brother yet again.

_Interesting. _"Hn. He would have killed _you_. Why would you allow him to live?"

"I know. But I do not wish death on others."

He snorted. "Are you weak, then?" he said, infusing his whip with youki for another strike.

She smiled. "No. Killing others is easy. Everyone does it." she looked pointedly at his whip. "It is showing mercy that makes you strong."

He lowered his whip. _Mercy makes strong? This Sesshoumaru has never heard of that. Being able to be merciless is his idea of strength…_

"Believe me, I'd love to see him dead after almost killing me. But I know better than that."

With a sharp nod, he brought his whip down. "Very well then. This Sesshoumaru will allow him to live. For now."

She was different. He noticed it first when she didn't insult his brother – apart from the stinking comment, but that was only the truth, and, of course, earned – she didn't judge people by their looks. She did not have any prejudices, and he admired her for that.

Kaede, surprisingly fast for her age, ran towards the bridge. "Well done, Kagome. Remember the words. Ye might need to say them again."

Inuyasha, who had been wringing his silver hair out, started tugging on the rosary, but the beads glowed a fierce pink and refused to be removed, only leaving red marks on his neck. "What the heck is this thing!" he growled.

Sesshoumaru prepared himself for another attack on his brother's side., but Inuyasha seemed to be too dazed to do anything but tug on the necklace.

Kaede laughed, and said, "I'm sorry Inuyasha, but you can't remove-" she looked up, suddenly noticing Sesshoumaru on the bridge. "Lord Sesshoumaru. What are ye doing here?"

"He… saved me. Or actually, he saved the jewel." Kagome said, smiling at him.

"Does This Sesshoumaru know you… miko?"

"I saw ye once, in the forest of Inuyasha, when I was a little girl. Ye were accompanied by a Toad demon, who called ye Lord Sesshoumaru."

_Probably when this Sesshoumaru was checking up on Inuyasha._

"Hn." He kneeled and picked up the jewel, giving it to the ningen girl.

"Thanks," she said, putting it in her pocket. "For helping me."

He looked at the girl, who was clutching the gash in her side while Kaede healed the wound in her shoulder. _Is she weak? _he thought, thinking over the concept in his mind. _Yes, she is untrained, indeed. But she is not weak. With the right amount of training, she could be… deadly._

She heard everything he thought. "I'm glad you think I could be deadly." she said, winking.

His golden eyes bored into her blue ones. _How? _was all he could think.

Kaede's expression was astonished, looking from Sesshoumaru to Kagome and back again. Then, she shrugged, figuring she'd ask the girl later about it, and continued healing Kagome's wounds.

_She can read this Sesshoumaru's mind? _He tried entering hers. _And this Sesshoumaru can't read hers? When… How is this possible? _

* * *

**A/N: This one was long. But I had to include the mind reading thing. Can anyone guess **_**why **_**she can? Come on. It's not so hard.**

**Also, I really did enjoy writing about the 'beasts'. Come on, did you really think I'd let him save her before the whole 'sit boy' thing? I had to come up with **_**something **_**and I thought, because every demon that gets close to the jewel goes berserk, this would be a nice 'solution' of the problem. Sesshoumaru has a weakness, too, you know.**

**Inuyasha will not be traveling with them, by the way. I don't like him. He will be part of the story, though.**

**If you liked it, please review. Reviews are like gasoline for writers like me. ^_^ With a full tank, I'll have the next chapter done sooner.**

**Also, I need two or three people who want to beta this monster of a fic. (I know it's going to be long, even if I don't use all the episodes.) If you want to help me, please send me a PM and we'll exchange MSN addresses. ^_~**

**-Erliane **

**Final Word Count: 7902  
**


	3. Before his very eyes

_**-**__** Chapter Three -  
Before his very eyes**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: **If I had been Rumiko Takahashi, the show wouldn't even be named Inuyasha. It would be named Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. But then again, I'm not her, so all I can do is write this fanfiction and enjoy it! :)

**A/N: Did you ever notice how Kagome's family never really seems worried about her? I mean, it's not like Inuyasha's **_**that **_**reassuring, insulting her and boasting all the time instead of telling her mother that she shouldn't be worried. So I thought I'd change that. It should be a shocking and terrifying experience for Souta, watching his little sister vanish like that. I wanted to show that in this chapter.**

**Music that inspired me for the part about Souta: ****  
**Kishi Ou No Hokori - Kawai Kenji (Fate/Stay Night) – such a beautiful piece, melancholic and it still seems to offer you comfort. One of my very favorites from Kawaii Kenji.

Come To Me – Vangelis – very appropriate, don't you think? Love the flutes in this one.

The lullaby in this chapter is **Oyasumi (Goodnight)**

**

* * *

Present Day – Japan, Tokyo****, Higurashi Shrine – 2011**  
She was gone. They heard it in the wails of the little boy, crying for his sister to come back. They both bowed their heads, feeling the boy's pain adding up to their own.

"It has begun, hasn't it?" the short man with the black hair asked.

The other nodded, leaping from the Goshinboku and walking back to their car. "Yes. It has begun." He sighed, stopping for a few seconds to listen to the melancholic sobs.

Looking over his shoulder, the short man asked, "Should we… tell them?"

His face was grim. "No. We should not interfere."

* * *

Tears were running down the little boy's grief-struck face, hugging the fat cat to his chest as he cried for his older sister time and again.

"Kagome! _Kagome!_" he cried, but when she did not respond, he jumped into the well, frantically using his hands to dig in the soft dirt. "Where are you, sister?" he sobbed, wiping his wet face with his dirty hands. "_Please_… Come back!"

Buyo was head butting against his leg, trying to cheer him up, but he didn't even notice. After resting for a few seconds, he started digging again, unwilling to give up.

Grandpa Higurashi had been reading a book under the Goshinboku when he heard someone weeping, the wails echoing through the well. He ran towards the well house with surprising speed for his age, and looked down the well.

In the darkness he could see his grandson sitting on his knees on the bottom of the dry well, crying desperately for his older sister.,

"Souta? What's wrong, boy?" he asked with a worried expression on his wrinkled face, wondering what could have happened to make his grandson weep like this – weep like he never had before, not even on his father's funeral.

Souta's hands were dirty, as was his face, but he seemed unable to tell his grandfather exactly what was wrong, muttering something about a 'monster', 'blue light', 'Kagome gone' and 'Buyo'.

Using a sturdy ladder, Grandpa descended down the well, lifting a trembling Souta, who was clutching Buyo and hiding his face in the white and black fur.

Holding Souta, he climbed up the ladder again, and carried his grieved grandson to the kitchen.

Nodoka was making dinner, humming a lullaby she had made up years ago, until she heard the heartbreaking sobs of the little boy. She immediately took over Souta from his grandfather, embracing and comforting him like only a mother could.

Rocking him back and forth, she whispered, "Shh… It's all right, Souta. I'm here now. Mommy's here."

With her sapphire eyes full of sorrow, she looked at her father-in-law, silently asking if he knew what was wrong with Souta, but he shook his head.

When Souta had calmed down a little, she asked him. "Now, tell me what's wrong."

Souta sobbed once and nodded, searching his mind for the right words. "Well, w-we were l-looking for Buyo, and the o-only place we hadn't searched yet was the well. T-then we heard something scratching and the w-well exploded." Nodoka glanced at her father-in-law, who looked a bit guilty himself. Was this the influence of the stories he had told her son every day?

Then she looked back at Souta, and she shook her head. No, the boy really wouldn't lie about something like this. It had to be the truth. "Something c-came out a-and grabbed Kagome!" Souta sobbed. "It was a monster!"

They were silent for a while. Grandpa was the first to speak up, his voice higher and squeakier than normal. "Are you sure, Souta? What did the monster look like?"

"W-well, it was huge, and it's b-body was that of a snake. It had a h-human head and torso, and a mouth that stretched from ear to ear." Souta said, shivering as he remembered the smile of the hideous creature that had abducted her sister.

"A hebime…" muttered Grandpa, scratching his head.

Grandpa patted Souta on the back. "Don't worry, Souta, I'm sure that, wherever Kagome is now, she's there for a reason. We shouldn't worry."

"But if it makes you feel better," he whispered behind his hand and winked, "I'll try to reach her with my spiritual powers."

Souta bobbed his head and grinned, wiping his face to remove the last tears, his eyes red and misty.

He squirmed when his mother tried to clean his face and hands with a tissue. "Do you think she'll be alright, mama?" he asked her, still not entirely convinced about Kagome's safety.

"Oh, dear, I'm worried too. But I'm sure she'll be alright." she said, hugging the boy tightly. "I was so scared, mom."

A crestfallen grandpa came back from the well.

"What happened, grandpa?"

He smiled sadly, "It didn't work. I couldn't reach her."

"Maybe she can't be reached?" Nodoka said, smiling hopefully.

Grandpa nodded. "Maybe."

That night, Nodoka allowed Souta to sleep in her bed, something she hadn't done in years, singing a lullaby when he woke up from a nightmare.

She sang, her angelic voice rocking him to sleep.

"Nighttime has come,  
Gone is the sun,  
Dream sky is spun,  
Stars, one by one... Oyasumi, hush my love,  
Oyasumi, hush my love,  
Oyasumi, hush my love,  
Hush, hush, hush.

Oyasumi, close your eyes,  
Oyasumi, close your eyes,  
Oyasumi, close your eyes,  
Sleep, sleep, sleep."

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Edo****, Kaede's Hut – 1511**  
The High Miko, Kaede, had insisted that he stayed with them in the hut so she could talk to him and the ningen girl.

The hut was not that large, consisting of a small kitchen and eating area, and the closed off quarters the miko slept. Sesshoumaru was uncomfortable, unused to being so close to humans.

He flinched when he heard the sounds of the village men repairing the huts damaged by the enraged demon Mistress Centipede. He looked out of place, an air of regality surrounding him while he sat across from the little ningen girl, who was frantically looking everywhere but at him. A hot cup of tea was steaming in front of her, but she hadn't touched it yet.

Immediately after the fight with Mistress Centipede, Kagome had asked for a change of clothes – it seemed she really hated looking like a whore in this era. Now, she was dressed in miko's garb – a chihaya – that had belonged to the dead miko Kikyou. _Now she _really _looks like the dead miko, _he thought, wrinkling his nose in disgust. _It still smells like her._

He could sense that she was nervous. Kagome was not used to the silence, having grown up in a very loud household. She tried not to look at the stoic Lord in front of her, fingering her hair.

Sesshoumaru hadn't answered her question yet, looking deep in thought – appreciating her silence.

The miko apprentices were different though, they were giggling and whispering things behind their hands Sesshoumaru wished he couldn't hear. When one of them offered him some of the stew they had eaten before Mistress Centipede's intrusion, he declined with an expression of disgust on his handsome face, seemingly offended they had even suggested it.

They were desperate to capture his attention now, and were scooting closer and closer to him. He glared when he heard the ningen girl giggle at their boldness, exposing his fangs and growling at the two apprentices until they shrieked and ran away into the night.

It was very uncomfortable, sitting with the young girl without Kaede nearby. The High Miko had left with Inuyasha when he had come barging in, demanding to know where Kikyou was.

* * *

_**A few minutes ago…  
**_Kaede had been bandaging the wound on Kagome's side – one that, surprisingly, she couldn't heal with her miko powers – when suddenly, the door was thrown open. Inuyasha, who had been sulking in the Goshinboku up until now, stalked inside and growled, "Tell me where Kikyou is!"

Kaede's happy expression immediately vanished, her eyes suddenly looking hollow and full of grief. "My sister, Inuyasha, is dead. She outlived yer sealing for only a few minutes." she said, her eyes becoming misty when at the word 'dead'. "Fifty years have passed, and I am an old woman now."

"Your… sister? Are _you _Kaede, the little brat that used to be with her all the time?" he asked her, his eyes widening when he saw the eye patch. "Dead? Kikyou's… dead?"

His lower lip trembled, and Kagome gazed at him with pity in her heart as he suppressed the tears that were threatening to fall from his misty eyes.

Sesshoumaru muffled his amused snickers with his sleeve.

_This Sesshoumaru's brother is so… weak. Love is for sentimental humans, not for demons._

"Not that I… care…" he said, trying to look like he hadn't loved the miko.

"But, I know now, that Kagome here is my sister's reincarnation."

"Reincarnation?" Kagome said, pointing at herself.

Kaede nodded. "Ye resemble her, she who was the last Keeper of the Jewel. But yer power feels strong, the same as hers, maybe even stronger. But it is clear. Ye are her reincarnation."

"B-but she can't be Kikyou's reincarnation!" Inuyasha yelled, "She's way too weak!"

"Now, now, Inuyasha." Kaede said, throwing a stern look in Sesshoumaru's direction, silently telling him not to humiliate his brother by teasing him about his feelings now. He nodded, and she grabbed Inuyasha by the sleeve of his Fire Rat Robe, dragging him outside to show him Kikyou's grave so he could pay his last respects to her.

"Kikyou?", Kagome said, remembering her grandfather's story, "Wasn't that the miko that pinned Inuyasha to the Goshinboku?"

Sesshoumaru nodded. "It was also the woman this Sesshoumaru's pitiful half-brother fell in love with."

"He's your brother?"

"_Half-_brother. He had a human mother." was all Sesshoumaru told her about the matter.

But she could read his mind, and immediately understood why he hated the boy so much. "He was the reason your father died…" she whispered, suppressing the pity in her eyes. She knew Sesshoumaru didn't want any sympathy, especially from a human.

"Hn," he nodded, looking a bit irritated that she, yet again, read his mind without him even noticing.

**

* * *

Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Edo****, Kaede's Hut – 1511 **  
Kagome was fidgeting with the sleeves of her rough jacket, unused to the heavy cotton. She was glancing at Sesshoumaru from under her bangs, who was looking utterly bored.

She drank her tea, exhausted after today's fight with Mistress Centipede. Suddenly, she started talking. "Do you know why…-"

"-you can read this Sesshoumaru's mind?" he guessed. "He is not sure. But this Sesshoumaru's thinks he knows the reason." He paused, seemingly lost in thought.

Kagome had to suppress a giggle when she noticed his strange manner of speaking. _Must be because he's a Lord, _she guessed, _and because he has a superiority complex. Still, it sounds ridiculous. _

Suddenly, her eyes grew wide. _Wait a second – don't I know that name? Sesshoumaru – Grandpa was telling his tale this morning. Could it be… the same?_

She tried to remember how his story went, but couldn't remember it – she had been concentrating on the far-fetched concept of magic and youkai at the time. She vaguely remembered something about a girl. _I should ask grandpa the next time I see him, _she thought, _I'll look for a way home tomorrow._

"You know the jewel attracts demons. But do you know why?"

_Oh. Yes. He's going to explain why I can read his mind._

Now that she thought about it, she _really _didn't know. _Why _does _the jewel attract demons? _

She shook her head. "All I know is that it can multiply a demon's power."

"Exactly. But how do they know it can?" he asked, not waiting for her reply, he continued. "They can sense it, yes, but there's something more to it. The jewel calls out to every demon, whispering promises of powers and fulfilling their hearts' desires. There are only a few demons who can withstand its promises and remain sane."

_Whispering promises of power… _Kagome thought. _It figures. Who can ignore _that?

"When you attacked Mistress Centipede today, you apparently amplified the jewel's inner voice. That only happens when the jewel is used by a being in the possession of significant power."

"So that's why Centipede wanted the jewel – the inner voice?" she said, her eyes widening. _Significant power? Since when do I…_

_**You are a miko with unusually strong powers, Kagome, **_the voice in her head said, _**But with power comes responsibility. And choices.**_

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Hai. And Inuyasha wanted it to become a full-blooded demon. This Sesshoumaru was the only one who could withstand the promises of the jewel, fighting off his inner beast the best he could."

"Inner beast?"

"All youkai and hanyou have one. It is the demon part of us, that tries to take over when in danger, or in this case, when it was promised to get something he desperately wanted." He flinched at the memory of his unwilling beast, glancing at Kagome to see if she had spotted his moment of weakness. When she seemed to have noticed nothing, he continued. "But this Sesshoumaru could fight it off until…"

She suddenly understood what he was trying to say. He was obviously not used to admitting a weakness. "Until I unknowingly activated the jewel?"

"Hai. The beast in this Sesshoumaru went wild when he heard the louder voice of the jewel." he admitted, grimacing at the thought. He touched the blue crescent moon on his forehead, his pale eyebrows pulled down in an angry frown.

He hated being weak. It was not in his nature, and he hated his beast for acting so unmanageable, dreading the moment the jewel was activated again.

"What exactly does this have to do with me reading your mind?" Kagome said, studying his golden eyes with a curious look on her face as she remembered the purpose of this conversation.

He was irritated that she had yet again interrupted him. "Patience." he growled, "This Sesshoumaru is almost at that part."

She nodded and waited for him to continue, observing him as he rubbed his blue marking one more time and then slipped his arm in his white haori.

"When the jewel was taken out of your body," he continued, glancing at her as she shivered, remembering the hebime biting into her tender flesh, "the jewel lost contact with you, and thus your powers – its voice grew soft again."

She bobbed her head, clutching the bandaged wound in her side. "Inuyasha was the first one to come back to his senses – partly. This Sesshoumaru thinks it was because he only has half a beast to fight off."

Nodding, she said, "That makes sense."

"Then he convinced you to undo the spell on him and remove the arrow. When you did – perhaps you can remember – the arrow exploded, and all that was left was a few pink sparks."

He touched his mark again, and Kagome lifted a black eyebrow, noticing that he had done this three times since they had started talking. "Does this… have something to do with the blue moon on your forehead?" she said, using her head to point at the crescent moon.

His eyes widened in surprise. So she had noticed? "Hai. At the time, this Sesshoumaru was crouching under the Goshinboku, trying to… fight off my beast. One of the sparks landed on This Sesshoumaru's mark. It started purifying his mind."

"What do you mean… purifying it?"

"Putting the beast at ease." he said, remembering his surprise when his beast's had suddenly stopped talking, and the blissful feeling of being in control of his own body again.

_Humans really don't understand __**anything**_, he thought, frowning at her.

She nodded, taking out the jewel from her pocket. _So I was the one who brought him back, _she thought, _and I was the one who caused all of it, too, _she thought, smiling bitterly at the jewel in her hands.

_**Do not blame the Curse of the Jewel on yourself, child,**_the woman said reassuringly, _**It has chosen you, and many demons will come after it. It is not your fault.**_

Putting the jewel back in her pocket, she turned to Sesshoumaru. "And you think this has something to do with me reading your mind?" she said, her sapphire eyes full of confusion.

He nodded, and reluctantly stated, "This Sesshoumaru thinks you forged a link between your and his mind. But you can only read his. This Sesshoumaru cannot read yours."

"I see. Well, can you block it? Close a mental door or something?" she said, shrugging a little.

They were just practicing that when Kaede came in without Inuyasha, using her Saigu-Yumi as a walking stick. With a deep sigh, she sat down next to Kagome.

"And to think it's only just beginning…" she groaned.

"What do you mean?" Kagome said, taking the bow from Kaede and laying it down in a corner of the hut.

"Worse than Mistress Centipede will come… far worse, now that the Sacred Shikon No Tama is back among us."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Hn. That one today was just a lesser demon."

"Lesser demon? I barely stayed alive!" Kagome exclaimed, looking a bit offended.

"Even lesser demons are… dangerous to humans."

"Humans will come after it too – some humans, the ones that are the most malevolent, can hear its voice, too. Only the jewel has the power to make their pathetic wishes come true." Kaede said, shivering when she remembered the humans and demons that had threatened her sister at the time.

"But the most dangerous youkai," she continued, "are the ones that can shape shift to look like a human," she looked at Sesshoumaru when she said that, "and the ones that can conceal their aura."

"Hai. We inuyoukai don't really look like humans," he said, pointing at his silver hair, "but we can conceal our auras easily if we train ourselves long enough."

Kaede sighed and poured herself and Kagome a cup of tea. "Well, at least we know Inuyasha's not a threat any more. He still wants the jewel, but if he comes to close ye just say the word and..." she struck the table, and her tea nearly went over the edge of the cup, "BANG." she laughed.

She sipped her tea. "By the way, Lord Sesshoumaru, do _ye _not want the jewel for its power?"

He growled, standing up with his claws flexed close to Kaede's throat.. "How _dare _you suggest that this Sesshoumaru would want it! He earns his powers by training, not by ingesting a jewel," he spat, baring his fangs.

Kagome pushed him back again. "Easy, boy, she's just making sure you're not after it!" she said.

Kaede smiled, a knowing look in her one good eye as she watched the girl.

He nodded, and stated, "This Sesshoumaru will stay with you until you can protect the jewel. He is sure that the High Miko will make you her apprentice and teach you how to use your powers." He looked at Kaede as he said that, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Of course," she said, smiling. "I'll be honored to teach the Keeper of the Jewel."

Kagome nodded, too exhausted to start protesting and declining her offer – she really needed a good night's rest.

"Drink your tea, Kagome, and we'll find ye a place to sleep." she looked at Sesshoumaru, but he shook his head.

"This Sesshoumaru will be sleeping on the roof tonight," he told her, "He prefers sleeping under the stars."

She nodded and led a yawning Kagome to the sleeping quarters. "Tomorrow, we'll start yer training," she promised.

Just before Kaede closed the door, she could hear the girl whisper, "I do hope my family's all right, I'm sure they must be worried about me…"

"I'm sure they are alright, youngster. Don't ye worry about them," Kaede said softly, closing the door.

Lord Sesshoumaru was already gone when she entered the kitchen. Sighing, she began clearing the table. "It's going to be a long day tomorrow…"

**

* * *

Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Edo ****– 1511  
**Sesshoumaru was lying down on the roof of Kaede's hut, studying the stars. Something was not right, and he could feel it. One of the trees near Kaede's hut was full of black birds that were cawing, pretending to be crows.

But Sesshoumaru knew they weren't crows. They were youkai, all of them, but he couldn't sense which one of them was their leader.

He snorted. _Clever. It has concealed its aura. Kaede told the girl this would happen._

Suddenly, he leapt up and into the tree, surprising all the youkai in an unguarded moment on their side. Using his Lightning Whip, he killed most of them, but he knew their leader was hiding somewhere else.

Yes, it was one of the first of many youkai to come after the jewel. He would not sleep tonight.

Taking his place as guard on Kaede's roof again, he thought, _It's a good thing this Sesshoumaru doesn't need as much sleep as a human.  
_

**

* * *

Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Edo**** River – 1511 **

Kagome was walking alongside the edge of the river, unknowingly tailed by Sesshoumaru. She was yawning and rubbing her eyes out, still trying to wake up. At the crack of dawn, Kaede had woken Kagome, stating that 'all miko rise with the sun'.

"Agh…" she groaned, "I miss them already," she said, talking, of course, about her family. She had always been homesick, even after one day without them.

_**Well, there must be some way to get back, **_the woman reassured her, her kind voice full of sympathy, _**maybe you should ask the High Miko Kaede for help? **_

Kagome nodded. Yes, she would do that. Spinning around, she started running towards Kaede's hut. "Kaede! Kaede!" she called, finding her near her hut, training the two more advanced apprentices.

"Oh, Kagome. There ye are." she said, waving at her young apprentice.

"I need to know how to get back," she cried, "I want to tell them that I'm alright."

Kaede smiled. "I thought so. Well, I think ye'll be able to go back through the way ye came here."

"The well?"

Nodding, Kaede pointed towards Inuyasha's Forest. "It's that way. Just ask the well to bring ye to yer time, and I'm sure ye'll immediately find yerself there."

"Thanks!" Kagome said, and she spun around and started running in the direction of the forest, but she changed her mind, and stopped.

"Can I come back?" she asked.

"Of course ye can. The well will recognize ye as the Keeper of the Jewel now. I'm sure it will grant ye access to this and yer time." When she started running again, Kaede yelled, "Wait, child!"

Turning towards the trees, she shouted, "Sesshoumaru, I know ye're there!"

With a flash of silver, he appeared. "What do you want of this Sesshoumaru, miko?" he grumbled.

"Eavesdropping is not proper, ye know." she said, winking.

"Hn?"

"Accompany Kagome to the well, will ye?" Kaede said, rubbing her aching back. "I'm not as healthy as I used to be, ye know."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and joined Kagome as she started walking to the forest, this time for real.

They were jumping over tree roots when they were ambushed by a couple of bandits.

"Here they are boss!" one of them said, rubbing the scar that ran through his right eye.

"The girl's got the jewel, even _I _can sense it!"

The biggest one of them, apparently their boss, started charging at them, a sword in his hands. But there was something odd about the way he moved, like he was a puppet being controlled by its master.

"Hand over the jewel!" he growled, his laugh suspiciously like that of Mistress Centipede. Sesshoumaru sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. Rotten meat.

_The man is… dead? Is he being controlled?_

"Stand back, Kagome! He's dead!" he warned the girl.

"Dead?" she asked, her eyes full of dread, not realizing this was the first time he used her name.

"Yes, dead." he stuck the man with his Lightning Whip. "I think he's being controlled by a demon."

The dead man proved his point as he swung at one of the bandits.

"Hey, boss, watch out!" one of them cried, only nearly dodging his blade.

"What are you doing, boss?"

"Yeah, boss, we're not the enemy!"

The last one couldn't dodge the blade, and received a large gash in his belly.

Their boss swung his sword wildly, taking down the trees surrounding them but not striking Sesshoumaru even once.

"The boss's gone mad!" one of the bandits cried.

"What's wrong with him!" another asked.

While Sesshoumaru was busy fighting the huge dead man, Kagome took the wounded man's arm and lay it on her shoulder, supporting him. She motioned for the bandits to follow her.

"You've gotta get out of here!" she shouted, and the bandits nodded and quickly followed her.

When they were a few meters from Sesshoumaru and the dead man, she told them about their boss. "Your boss is dead – Sesshoumaru," she used her head to point in his direction, "thinks he's being controlled by a demon that's after the Sacred Jewel."

They all nodded and one of them said, "That would explain the sudden need to go after the jewel."

Another one of them just stared at the jewel, which hung around her neck as a necklace. Suddenly, he jumped up and grabbed it.

_**Watch ou-! **_She could hear the woman scream faintly, but the voice seemed to be gone without the jewel around her neck. Before she could even blink, the man that had grabbed the jewel was gone, flying in the sky as a craw youkai with three red eyes, carrying the jewel in its beak.

"Hey, give that back!" she cried, punching the air with her first. "Sesshoumaru!" she bellowed.

In an instant, he was there. "What?"

She pointed at the craw. "H-he got the jewel. The big man was just a distraction…"

_Stupid wench lost the jewel, _he grumbled mentally, _so weak._

He nodded, and, not even knowing why himself, took her along, using the fur on his shoulders to carry her with him as they flew after the crow youkai.

_Oh. Apparently he can move the Mokomoko, _Kagome thought. _Is it his… tail?_

Sesshoumaru noticed a horse with a bow and full quiver of Hamaya - Sacred Arrows - hanging from the saddle standing a few meters away. When he passed by the horse, he snatched the bow and arrows and gave them to Kagome.

"Shoot it." he grumbled, nodding towards the crow youkai.

"B-but I'm just a beginner!" she cried, "I won't be able to hit it!"

Scowling, he thought, _Can't even fire an arrow… Humans…_

He snorted. "You are the reincarnation of a powerful miko. Of course you can hit it!" Through his mind, he showed her images of Kikyou fighting off demons with her bow, the emphasis on her excellent skill and agility.

"Now, quickly, shoot it before it sw-"

He groaned. "It swallowed the jewel. Just try to hit it, ok?"

The crow exploded and transformed into a much bigger bird, its claws even longer than before.

Kagome sighed a deep sigh and tried to remember what her archery teacher told her. "Okay. Nocking, Drawing, Anchor Point, Release and Follow Through." she repeated over and over like a mantra. The four main steps in archery. She missed the arm guard and the finger tab she had practiced with.

She placed the shaft of the arrow on the arrow rest, like she had learned in archery class.

Then she placed her index finger above the arrow, and the next two fingers below, taking the string between the second joint of her fingers. She raised the bow and drew the string, concentrating on using the right position, in which she had to form a T with her body.

Out of the corner of his golden eyes, Sesshoumaru watched the girl as she prepared to shoot. "Relax your fingers," he instructed, "Now, try to imbue the arrow with your miko powers. Imagine them flowing through your fingers and into the arrowhead."

Her face scrunched up in concentration, and after a few seconds, the arrow began to glow a light pink. "That's it. Now aim and shoot when this Sesshoumaru tells you to." he said, the corners of his mouth lifting in a smirk as he flew closer to the crow demon.

"Shoot!" he said, sounding rather calm. Apparently, he didn't think the crow was such a threat.

She released the arrow, and with a twang, it charged at the crow, a pink light enveloping it. Inches before it hit the crow, it fell back.

Frowning, he thought, _As was expected from a human. They are good for nothing._

She heard him, of course. "Hey! I tried my hardest!" she yelled, waving her fist in the air.

"Again," Sesshoumaru said sternly. "Put more pressure on the string this time."

She nodded and placed another arrow in the arrow rest, imbuing it with her miko powers again. "Hit the mark!" she whispered, and she released it again when Sesshoumaru nodded.

With wide eyes, she watched the arrow as it flew right at her target. When it hit the demon, the crow exploded in a flash of pink lights.

She and Sesshoumaru gasped when they saw the jewel floating in the air, the arrow embedded in it and slowly breaking its barriers. A wave of nausea hit her as a crackling sound broke the silence. She realized it at the same time as Sesshoumaru. The jewel was shattering!

A pink light lit up the sky, so bright that Kagome had to avert her eyes. Sesshoumaru grunted and shielded his eyes with his hand, but started moving closer to the jewel.

With an explosion and a loud crack, the jewel broke into a million pieces, the shards flying into all possible directions. Sesshoumaru dashed forward and caught a few, cutting the flesh of his palm in the process. He tried to catch more, but there were simply too many.

Kaede could see the lights coming from the forest of Inuyasha. "Kagome!" she mouthed, mounting a horse and hurrying towards the forest.

There she found Kagome sitting on a root of the Goshinboku, whimpering and crying that she had shattered 'it', and Sesshoumaru, who was staring at the shards in his palm, looking a bit dazed himself.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," Kaede said sternly, "What happened?"

"A… demon got the jewel. She shoot it, and…"

"And?" Kaede asked.

"It shattered."

"Shattered?" she breathed, reaching for the shards in his palm. "These are shards of the jewel?"

He nodded, and pointed at the cuts in his palm. "This Sesshoumaru tried to catch them, but he was unable to get all of them."

Kaede walked over to Kagome, embracing the crying teenager and giving her the sharp-edged jewel shards. "A-and I was supposed t-to protect it," she sobbed, "and look what I did to it!"

The other miko came running towards them, looking equally as astonished as their High Miko by the lights they had seen.

"'Tis not yer fault, Kagome," Kaede said, shushing the girl. "It could have happened to anyone."

Turning to Sesshoumaru, she said, "I think it's best if she went home now."

"Yes, yes, just go now, ningen." he said, scowling while he rubbed the cut on his palm, infusing youki so it would heal faster.

_Insolent wench. __The jewel will be a danger to all of Japan now._

"Aren't you afraid she won't come back, Kaede?" one of the elder miko whispered behind her hand.

Kaede shook her head. "The jewel will attract her, for she has carried it with her for years." Turning towards Sesshoumaru again, she said, "There will undoubtedly be demons in there. Ye should make sure the jewel is safe before returning here."

He groaned, but nodded. "Alright then. This Sesshoumaru will make sure the jewel is safe." he stated, looking at the crying ningen girl. "But how will we get back to her time?"

"But there are no demons in Tokyo!" Kagome protested, scowling a little.

_How am I going to explain this to mum, Souta and grandpa?_she wondered.

Now that she had a few shards of the jewel back, the voice was back, too. _**Shouldn't be so hard, **_the woman said, sounding rather disappointed in Kagome, _**they already believe in magic and youkai, right?**_

Kaede ignored her and said, "I'll accompany ye to the well."

When Kagome had calmed down a bit, Kaede pulled her up. Together, they walked to the well. Kaede took one of Kagome's hands in her own and laid it on the edge of the well. "Now wait for something to happen to ye, child." was all she told her.

It was the voice of an old man that spoke to her. _**Who wants to pass?**_he asked, his cough echoing through her mind.

"It's the voice of an old man," Kagome said, raising a black eyebrow. "He's asking me 'who wants to pass'."

Kaede smiled. "Well, then, introduce yerself!" she said, pointing at the well.

"Kagome Higurashi, Keeper of the Sacred Jewel, and…" she looked over at Sesshoumaru, motioning for him to place his hand on the edge of the well. "Sesshoumaru, Lord of the West. He didn't believe me when I told him there are no demons in Tokyo. He wants to come along to protect the jewel shards." she grumbled, shrugging a little.

_**Alright then, Kagome and Sesshoumaru, you may pass,**_they heard him croak._** Jump in!**_

_It's __**Lord**_ _Sesshoumaru, _Sesshoumaru thought, frowning at the well.

"Yes, yes," Kagome said, tugging on Sesshoumaru's sleeve. "We all know you have a superiority complex. Now, jump, will you?" she said, and, dragging him along with her, she hopped into the well as a bright blue light enveloped them, both of them traveling through the barriers of time and space.

Sesshoumaru flinched when he was assaulted with the scents and sounds of the twenty-first century. He could hear the unfamiliar honks of cars and exhaust fumes whirling in the air. Wrinkling his nose, he grumbled, "I do not like the stench of your time."

But Kagome didn't even hear him, a brilliant smile gracing her features. "I'm home…" she whispered, closing her eyes and listening to the sounds of the honking cars.

It was almost dusk and Souta had been sitting in the well house since he had come back from school, when suddenly, a bright blue light announced the return of his sister.

"Grandpa, mama, Kagome's back!" he yelled over his shoulder.

With a cry of joy, he jumped into the well and allowed his sister to catch him. "Sister, sister, you're back!" he chanted over and over. "I was so worried…" he sobbed, hiding his face in her raven hair.

Then, he noticed her miko clothes. "Why are you wearing those clothes?" Souta asked, taking in the sight of his sister in a chihaya. "You look like a medieval priestess!" he exclaimed.

"Shh… I will explain it when grandpa and mom are here." she said, ruffling his hair.

Suddenly, Souta looked at her companion. "Who's that?" he asked, his eyes as wide as saucers.

**

* * *

A/N: First, I want to thank everyone that reviewed the first two chapters. Much thanks to: ****XxdarkvampirelovexX, Blackmoon OniOokami, BMalone93 and shadow zombie! **

**Poor Souta. He really **_**was **_**worried. Next chapter, he'll act like he wasn't worried. You all know how fourteen year old boys are, trying to act like their all grown up while they're not. :)**

**Don't get any ideas, people. Sesshoumaru does not /magically/ like Kagome or humans. He still thinks they're weak. He's just concerned about the jewel. *nods***

**Tell me if you liked this chapter. Did you like the changes I made? Sesshoumaru's attitude? The well man? – I made that up to cover a major plot hole, because in the manga/anime, Kagome can travel through time if she possesses a jewel shard, but in the end, when she doesn't have any, she can still pass – now why is that? **

**And who, just **_**who, **_**are the mysterious people that have been spying on Kagome and her family?**

**I'm going to skip Yura (I will probably **_**mention **_**her) because I've never really liked her. Instead, we'll just skip forward to… Aristocratic Assassin, Sesshoumaru. Ooh. More Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru will probably end up with Tessaiga in this fanfiction. How, and why, you'll find out soon.**

**Still looking for betas, PM me if you're interested.**

**- Erliane**

**Final word count: 7064**


	4. Guardian of the tomb

-_** Chapter Four -  
Guardian of the Tomb**_

**

* * *

Disclaimer: **Don't own them. *sob* Just borrowing them from Rumiko Takahashi. I'll give them back when I'm done with them, which will probably take a _long_ time! In the meantime, I'm having way too much fun with them! *grins*

**A/N: ****I'll be wriggling and scrapping my way through the series, using a great deal from the original manga and anime, and yet, change a lot. Scrap that! No Yura. Instead we'll be moving on to… *drum beats* one of my personal favorites, 'Aristocratic Assassin, Sesshoumaru'. **

**

* * *

Sengoku Jidai – Japan, ****somewhere near Edo – 1511**

Jaken was riding on the back Ah-Un, who was flying in circles around the place where Lord Sesshoumaru had left them. He was, as always, blabbering about something while no one paid attention.

"_Business. _He had _business _to attend to_._" Jaken grumbled, "-and I made him his favorite food, too! Smoked salmon! Do you know how long it takes to smoke salmon properly?" Jaken cried, waving the Staff of Two Heads in the air, "and he didn't even come back!" Ah roared softly so Jaken wouldn't scold him for not paying attention, while Un just looked bored – he would have yawned if his mouth wasn't trapped in a muzzle.

"Did you feel that too?" Jaken asked, scratching his head, "The immense power suddenly appearing just minutes after he left?"

Ah and Un both nodded. "Of course. It was a good thing you stopped me from going after it!" Jaken said, blushing at the memory. Ah-Un had to tackle him to bring him back to his senses after his beast had taken over, berserk when it had sensed the power of the jewel.

Suddenly, Un looked up, and Jaken nearly fell of Ah-Un's back when he felt his lord's aura vanish from this world. Grabbing Ah's mane in one hand and clutching his strange black hat, which was threatening to slide off, in the other. He caught his the falling Staff of Two Heads between his toes.

"Oh, what happened?" Jaken squeaked, his voice unusually high-pitched. Suddenly he felt it. "The foreign power is gone, too!"

"I hope they haven't killed each other," Jaken muttered, "But no, my lord would never lose – right?" he shook his head and gripped Ah's mane in one hand and his staff in the other.

"To Edo!" he yelled, and he steered Ah-Un towards the place where he last sensed Lord Sesshoumaru, seconds before he vanished.

Jaken jumped off Ah-Un, who had landed near Goshinboku.

His yellow eyes grew widened when he saw the empty Tree of Ages. "Inuyasha's… gone!" he squawked. "How could this have happened?"

Then, he sensed a familiar miko aura nearby. "Show yourself!" he squeaked, and, as warning, he led the old man on his staff spit fire.

An old woman stepped from between the bushes. "Are ye the Lord's sidekick?"

"What happened to Lord Sesshoumaru!" he screeched, "Tell me, _human_, does this have anything to do with Inuyasha's disappearance?" he nodded at the empty Goshinboku.

"The spell on Inuyasha was broken by the Keeper of the Sacred Jewel. Yer master is in the year 2011 now, making sure the jewel is safe."

"E-excuse me?" Jaken stuttered. "T-two-thousand-eleven?"

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." she pointed at the well. "He'll return through the well. Now, if ye don't mind, I'll be going now."

"H-hey, wait!" Jaken yelled, but Kaede was already walking towards the village of Edo.

**

* * *

Present Day – Japan, Tokyo****, Higurashi Well house – 2011**

Souta stared at the scowling demon lord, his mouth hanging slightly open. The young man had long silver hair and golden eyes. He looked like a warrior, wearing a spiked pauldron that covered his left shoulder, a cuirass, and a sword in his sash. Both his armor and his long flowing sash had a decided Mainland influence.

His kimono was mostly white with a red honeycomb and flower crest at the collar and sleeves, and his Sashinuki Hakama were gathered at the ankle to create a ballooning effect.

The inuyoukai bore dual magenta slashes across each cheek, and a navy blue crescent moon on his forehead, peeking through his silver bangs.

He looked every bit of a demon lord, Souta realized, his eyes widening. Sesshoumaru averted his eyes, uncomfortable under the boy's piercing gaze.

"Who's that?" Souta asked, nodding at Sesshoumaru.

"Patience," Kagome said, not realizing that she sounded like mom a few days before Souta's birthday, "I will explain later, when mama and grandpa are here."

"You won't have to wait _that_ long." she said, snorting as Souta pouted, his eyes pleading.

Sesshoumaru nodded. From outside, he could hear them rushing towards the well house. The two of them sounded more like a herd of elephants, stamping in their hurry to get to their daughter and granddaughter. "I can hear them coming already."

They climbed out of the well – well, actually, Souta and Kagome climbed, Sesshoumaru just jumped over the edge, not bothering to help the humans.

Nodoka Higurashi sprinted up the stairs, closing the distance between them with a cry of joy. She enclosed her daughter in a crushing hug. "Kagome!" she cried, "I'm so glad you're back!"

"Mum… can't… breathe…" Kagome croaked.

"Oh! Sorry, dear," Nodoka said, releasing her daughter and wiping her tear-stained face. She looked at Souta, who was holding Kagome's hand and clinging to it like he couldn't believe she was back, and hugged him, too.

Grandpa, who was a bit slower than mama, had climbed the steps to the well house, too, and embraced his daughter-in-law, grandson and granddaughter in a group hug.

Sesshoumaru stood there watching them, the beginnings of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, his long hair fluttering in the wind.

_They seem so… happy to see her again, _he thought bitterly, thinking of his own family. He remembered his stoic father, who had reserved his love for a human and his younger son – Inuyasha, who couldn't even remember him, and his unfaithful mother, who had cheated on his father by mating a wolf youkai in secrecy.

Images of Izayoi in his father's arms entered his mind, dread and sadness in his eyes as he watched the happy family in front of him. No, he had never been loved, not even by his own parents.

Kagome glanced back at him, pity and sympathy in her eyes, but anger, too. He was irritated that she had noticed in her own moment of happiness.

_Why are you angry? _He asked mentally, but she shook her head, unwilling to answer him in the presence of her family.

Kagome's mother peeked over her daughter's shoulder, her eyes widening when she spotted the silver-haired inuyoukai watching them, his eyes misty with nostalgia.

However, when he noticed Kagome's mother staring at him, his face turned as stoic as always.

Nodoka's eyes widened with curiosity. "Who's that, Kagome?"

Kagome giggled nervously, "Oh, err, well, mom, grandpa, Souta, this is Sess-" Sesshoumaru interrupted her, clearing his throat. Kagome glared at him, rolling her eyes. "Sorry. _Lord _Sesshoumaru."

Her mother and grandfather glanced at each other, their eyes just about popping out of their heads. Kagome gritted her teeth, trying to remember what the story grandpa told them was about.

"Sesshoumaru, this is my grandpa," she said, shrugging when he growled at her when she didn't use his title. He turned to her grandfather, and nodded at the old man, who was nervously fidgeting with his sleeves. Grandpa bowed deeply, his nose almost touching his clasped hands.

Sesshoumaru hadn't bowed to anyone in ages. As a daiyoukai, people bowed to him – the people that respected him, that is. The only one he bowed to was a demon lord superior to him. There was currently only _one_superior to him – Ryuukata, Ryukotsusei's son, a young, arrogant youkai that inherited the vast lands of his father.

**

* * *

[A/N: ****竜****翔****太 ****Ryuukata, 'Great Soaring Dragon']**

* * *

Sesshoumaru glared, thinking of how much he wanted to kill the green haired idiot – he knew it wouldn't help him much. Ryukotsusei had six more sons to replace the current one.

_What's he scowling about now, _Kagome thought, irritated that he had yet again lost attention to the current situation. _Must be a demon thing, _she thought, shrugging.

"This is my mother," she said with a loud voice, as to wake him up from his musings.

Nodoka smiled and bowed. "Nodoka Higurashi. It's an honor to meet you, my lord."

Kagome rolled her eyes and walked over to Souta. "And this is my brother Souta."

Souta, who appeared to have lost his manners, ran over to Sesshoumaru and began shaking his hand. "Are you really _the _Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Suddenly, everyone started talking at once.

"Do you reckon he's-" Grandpa asked mum.

"Of course he is! Look at him!" Mum cried.

"I told you so! Demons do exist!" Souta yelled.

"I can't believe it's really Lord Sesshoumaru!"

"But how did Kagome-"

"I don't know! But it's awesome!"

Sesshoumaru flinched at the noise, fighting the urge to cover his sensitive ears with his hands. Kagome flashed an apologetic smile in his direction.

She cleared her throat. "Okay everyone," she bellowed. When everyone was silent, and looking at her with expectant eyes, she said, "I can explain. But is a long story."

Nodoka grinned. "No problem. Now come along everyone, I'll make us all some tea."

_**

* * *

Later, in the kitchen,**_

"So you're the keeper of the Sacred Jewel?" Grandpa asked, scratching his head. "_The _Sacred Jewel?"

Kagome nodded. "Apparently, I have 'significant'-" she made quote marks with her fingers, and glanced at Sesshoumaru, who was licking at a dog shaped chocolate drop cookie – how ironic – and apparently didn't pay attention to their conversation any more. "miko powers."

They usually didn't eat chocolate cookies, but for this special occasion, mama had dug up a box, and Sesshoumaru seemed to like them very much.

Mama had also made tea – their finest brand, cherry flavored, which they usually only made on birthdays. At least Sesshoumaru drank it and didn't leave it untouched like he did at Kaede's.

_Must be his sensitive nose, _Kagome thought, mentally scoffing, _He can smell a fancy tea brand even if he's miles away from it._

But, she was glad Sesshoumaru had behaved so far – he hadn't really talked that much, but at least he hadn't been rude to her family. She knew how much he disliked humans.

"Can I say 'I told you so' now?" grandpa asked, grinning as he sipped his tea.

Kagome bowed her head in shame, looking at her knees to hide her blushing cheeks. "I'm sorry, grandpa – it seems I really was wrong this time."

Grandpa, who sat next to her, just shrugged and tapped her on the back. "That's alright, my dear." He glanced at Sesshoumaru. "So. He saved you?"

Kagome blushed even harder and quickly stammered, "N-no, he saved the j-jewel! T-the jewel! Not me."

Sesshoumaru stood up, and, turning to Kagome, he said, "This Sesshoumaru will check the area for demons. He will go back to his time when he's sure there are none here."

She nodded and mama and Souta also stood up. "I've gotta do my homework," Souta said, and mama muttered something about laundry.

It was just her and grandpa now. The perfect chance she'd been waiting for.

"So… you told us about him, didn't you?" Kagome asked hesitantly, "the day I vanished?"

Grandpa nodded. "I take it that you forgot what it was about?"

"Yes. I do remember something about a little girl…"

"In short, he will change."

"Change? Him?" Kagome asked, smiling at the thought of the Ice Prince being influenced by anyone.

"A girl will change him." he said, looking at her pointedly.

Kagome laughed, sounding a bit nervous. "But it's a little girl, right? So it can't be me."

Grandpa sighed and decided not to tell her about the other girl that was mentioned in the story, afraid that he might change what was to come.

**

* * *

Present Day – Japan, Tokyo****, Higurashi garden – 2011**

Instead of doing his homework, Souta sneaked out of the house and crouched behind the well house, trying to find Sesshoumaru.

_Where has he gone off to? _Souta thought, as he scratched his head and peeked around the wall.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at it. It was clawed, and there were two magenta slashes on the side. Souta gulped. Sesshoumaru.

"If you want to sneak up on someone, remember not to scratch your head," Sesshoumaru advised, nodding at Souta's hand, which was still atop of his head. "And watch out – you don't want the scratching to become a habit." He said, smirking.

Souta nodded, and asked, "Can I stay, milord?"

"You can stay and watch this Sesshoumaru. But he will ask you to be silent. It's about the safety of the jewel, after all," he stated, and he leapt on a branch of the Goshinboku.

At first, it was rather hard for Souta to suppress his laughter. Sesshoumaru looked every bit of a dog, sniffing the air with his nose pressed to the ground. Until the daiyoukai looked up, his gaze utterly confused.

"Is there something wrong, Lord Sesshoumaru?" Souta asked, walking over to him.

"This Sesshoumaru smells no demon," he said, sniffing the air once more. "Your sister told this Sesshoumaru there were no demons here, but this Sesshoumaru never believed her."

Souta chuckled and nodded. "Well, I don't know what happened to your species – but I've never seen any demon in Tokyo. They seem to be exti-"

He stopped talking when lord Sesshoumaru jumped up and ran to the road, readying his Whip of Light. "Wait, Lord Sesshoumaru – cars aren't-…" Souta cried, rushing after him, grabbing some rope from the shrine.

He found a terrified woman in a car and an enraged Sesshoumaru slashing at the automobile, unable to understand that the steel monster was not a demon.

"No!" Souta screamed, and he quickly bound Sesshoumaru's wrist with the rope he'd gotten from the shrine. Sesshoumaru growled and bared his fangs. "What do you think you're doing, human?" he barked, trying to wriggle loose.

"That's not a demon!" Souta cried, helping the horrified lady out of the car wreck. "I'm sorry... miss."

"What is it, if not a demon?" Sesshoumaru growled. "It moves without horses in front of it!"

"It's a car. It's rather… complicated. I can't explain." Souta said. "But it obeys every command, and does not have a will of its own."

"But it growled at this Sesshoumaru!"

"Look, just ask my grandfather about the car. He can explain." Souta said, sighing as he undid the rope tied around Sesshoumaru's wrists. "I'll go talk to the police…" he mumbled, looking at the police cars that were closing in on them with screaming sirens. "Although I have no idea what to tell them."

**

* * *

Present Day – Japan, Tokyo****, Higurashi kitchen – 2011**

As if on cue, Sesshoumaru entered the kitchen. "This Sesshoumaru searched the near vicinity. He can't detect _any _youkai at all…" he said, and she felt the confusion flowing through his mind.

_How is it possible that there are no youkai in this time? _Sesshoumaru mused, _Are they extinct? Or can they mask their scents and appearance? And what is a… car?_

Kagome nodded. "Can I stay here tonight? We can go search for shards tomorrow."

Sesshoumaru growled. _The jewel is a danger to Japan __**now!**_ But he also understood that her family was very important to her – she would probably not see them again for a long time.

"This Sesshoumaru will be here tomorrow, at the break of dawn. Do not be late," he warned.

Then, he moved to face her grandfather. "Now… This Sesshoumaru has some questions concerning these odd contraptions called… 'cars'?

Kagome rolled her eyes when grandpa was happy to comply, explaining all about 'motors' and 'fuel'. She sighed and, taking Buyo – who was very happy to see her again – in her arms and walking up the stairs to her bedroom.

There, she started packing her black bag pack. "If I'm going to be traveling in the feudal era, I'll need some supplies," she muttered.

She packed her PJs, a flashlight, a sleeping bag, some snacks, a few boxes of ramen her mom had laid out for her, a First Aid box, a bow and matching arrows she had bought to practice with, a small dagger, a towel, and soap and shampoo.

She turned her laptop on, grateful that she could finally surf the internet again – she had missed it, for the small period she had been in the Sengoku Jidai.

She searched the 'net for a feudal map of Japan, so she could mark the places they'd searched for the shards. The earliest one she could find was one of 1573, but she guessed that it would be accurate enough.

She printed it out and rolled it up to put it with her other supplies. Sighing, she looked at her school books. "I guess I should take some of these with me, too…" she muttered, packing her Math and English – the subjects that were the hardest for her – books.

Kagome had already talked about her education with her grandpa and mother. They would just have to come up with reasons why she couldn't go to school. They would most likely have to make up fake illnesses. She hated to have to lie to her friends and all her classmates, but she knew they wouldn't believe her anyway.

She descended down the stairs to find Sesshoumaru gone. "Did he go back already?" she asked her grandpa, who nodded. "Yes. He was muttering something about one 'Jaken' or something. Do you know a 'Jaken'?"

She shook her head. "I have a question, grandpa. Did you tell anybody that I was… missing?"

The hard pounding on the door was her only answer. She opened the door to look into the smiling face of Houjo. "Kagome! You're back!" he cried.

**

* * *

Sengoku Jidai – Japan, ****the dry well in Inuyasha's Forest – 1511**

Sesshoumaru was greeted with a familiar sound. "Milord! You're back!" the kappa squeaked, clinging to his legs and holding on as if his life depended on it.

"Jaken," Sesshoumaru groaned. "Let go of this Sesshoumaru, please," he said, shaking his leg until the kappa fell on the ground. "We'll leave tomorrow on a search for the Sacred Jewel shards. A miko will be accompanying us." Jaken whimpered at that. "This Sesshoumaru wants you to treat her with respect."

"A _miko_, milord?" Jaken asked, scratching his head, "A _human_ miko?"

Sesshoumaru nodded and strode, with large paces, over to the Goshinboku. Jaken struggled to keep up with him. "But milord! What about your search for your father's Fang?"

He looked up at the empty Goshinboku and narrowed his eyes. "It will simply have to wait. Or perhaps we can combine these two quests. We will see."

**

* * *

Present Day**** – Japan, Tokyo, Higurashi Shrine well house – 2011**

He was there, like he had said, at the break of dawn. She was there, alright, but she looked somehow reluctant to leave, like she had lain awake all night trying to find excuses to stay here.

He saw it in the way she looked at her family, pain evident in her eyes as she watched them line up to say their goodbyes – suddenly, her eyes turned fiery.

"No!" she screamed, "I won't go! I have to graduate, I am j-just an ordinary eighteen year old girl, damn it!" she cried, tears streaming down her face.

Sesshoumaru sighed. He had hoped it wouldn't come to this.

"Will you deny your destiny? The jewel chose you, after all." he said sternly, folding his arms as he watched her fight internally.

She shrieked, "I won't go!" again, but deep down, she knew he was right. She didn't have the _right _to say no. She had shattered the jewel, and she had to complete it again. She couldn't lie to herself, like she had lied to Houjo the night before.

"Will you turn your back on demon and human kind? Surely you want to spare all those lives."

She nodded, hiding her face in her hands. "But I don't want to leave my family…" she cried.

Sesshoumaru sighed, irritated that he had to help her out of this emotional state. He didn't show his irritation though – he knew she would never come with him on a quest to search for the jewel shards if he did that.

"It is only temporary. And you will be able to visit your family."

She embraced her mother, trembling a little. "I'll miss you mom," she whispered, reluctant to let go. Souta was crying too, and grandpa just looked away, unable to face reality.

She tugged on Sesshoumaru's sleeve and pointed at the pink bike standing in the corner of the well house. "I do want to take my bike," she said, watching as Sesshoumaru lifted a pale brow.

"You won't need that." he said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

"But how will we travel?" she asked, "You're not going to carry me, are you?"

He snorted. "You will be able to travel on my tatsume, my dragonsteed."

"Ah."

She put her hand on the well, revealing her identity to the well man. "I'll be back!" she yelled, and together with Sesshoumaru, she jumped in, looking over her shoulder as she watched her family be replaced by a beautiful blue light that would bring them across time.

On the other side, she could hear a high-pitched, squeaky voice mutter angrily, complaining that 'they' were late.

She looked Sesshoumaru in the eye, silently asking who the voice belonged to.

_Jaken. _He thought, explaining it to her without using his voice – also a test to see if he could block his mind yet – apparently not, because her gaze grew even more confused. _This Sesshoumaru's… sl- sidekick._

Now that she was back in the feudal era, the voice was back, too.

_**Did he almost say slave? **_The woman snorted. _**It figures.**_

Kagome smiled. _It does. _

Jaken, she found out, was a small kappa – a frog demon, dressed in a brown haori and beige Sashinuki Hakama, which were gathered at the ankle, just like his lord wore his Sashinuki Hakama. The little toad carried a staff almost twice as big as himself – a hilarious sight – and wore a peculiar black hat on his head. She also found out that he was rather annoying, scolding her all the time and muttering insults about humans behind her back.

Together, they went to Kaede's village. People were still a little frightened of Sesshoumaru, and the inclusion of a kappa and tatsume didn't work that well either.

"Kagome! Ye came back!" Kaede shouted. "See, I told ye so," she said to the other miko.

"So. Do ye want to start with yer training?" she asked the teenage girl.

Kagome nodded. "I think Sesshoumaru-" the youkai in question coughed when she didn't use his title, "wants to start looking for jewel shards, so just the basics, please."

"Alright then. Do ye have a bow?" Kaede asked.

"Yup," Kagome said and fetched the bow she had bought to practice with from the black bag pack.

"Alright. Now, I'll give ye some more miko clothes. Ye'll want to be able to change, once in a while."

"No." Sesshoumaru said, shaking his head.

Kaede's expression was confused "No?"

"No. She already looks way to much like that… Kikyou. This Sesshoumaru is sure she can wear something else."

And with that, he dragged her to the market place. The place was buzzing with activity, almost all of the stand selling fish and praising their wares, one even louder than the other. Only one stand sold something other than fish – clothes.

"How did you kno-" Kagome started, but she was interrupted by Sesshoumaru.

"Do you have any gold or silver pieces on you?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"No," She searched in her black bag. "But I've got these!" she said, holding up a banknote of 10,000 yen. Sesshoumaru snorted. "Those won't work here."

Jaken, who, apparently, bore the money, got him a few silver pieces. "Here you are, milord."

Kagome started protesting. "No, no, you don't have to. I have the miko clothi-"

Sesshoumaru silenced her with a glare. "He has too much anyway," Jaken muttered. Kagome's eyes started to sparkle greedily. Sesshoumaru had… money?

_Of course he has, you dummy, _she mentally scolded herself, _He's a lord!_

Kagome got a silk kimono – she didn't even believe the man had such a beautiful kimono until she saw it with her own eyes. The kimono was mostly white, with a few blue stars and orange and pink colored leaves on it. The obi was a large, red one. It was a rather short kimono, so she had to wear bright red nagabakama under it.

She entered the hut of the miko to change into the kimono, glad to have a moment alone with Kaede. "Hey, Kaede," she asked, as she slipped on the plain, inner kimono. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, child. Ye can ask anything."

"Well… Do you have any of those subjugation necklaces left? I would like one for Sesshoumaru," she whispered behind her hand. "You know, in case he goes berserk?"

Kaede shook her head. "I'm sorry, child – I only have beads. The necklace, ye'll have to make yerself. But it's a good idea, ye never know with those demons," she said, winking. She gave Kagome the beads, who forcefully pushed them in her already stuffed bag pack.

After ten minutes – it was a pain to dress in this rather formal kimono – she stepped outside.

"Better?" she asked Sesshoumaru, twirling around to show off the skirt-like effect of the nagabakama. He nodded. "At least you don't look like Inuyasha's miko anymore," he muttered, staring into the distance as he felt a familiar aura approach.

"My lord! My lord!" a low voice came from the ground. It jumped on Sesshoumaru's head, but before it could suck out some blood, he was crushed between Sesshoumaru's thumb and index finger.

"Myoga the flea," Sesshoumaru grumbled, flicking him on the ground. "What do you want?"

Kagome shrieked and started spraying some anti-insect spray she got from her bag back – she must've left it in there after their holiday to South Africa.

"Kagome. You can put that away. He won't hurt you." Sesshoumaru said, scoffing. "He's an old friend of this Sesshoumaru's father."

Kaede invited them all inside when she saw their visitor.

"Ah, so this is the young lady I've heard so much about." Myoga said, admiring the good looks of the young miko. "Is it true you're going to accompany Lord Sesshoumaru on his search for the jewel shards?" he asked her, grinning widely.

She nodded. "My name's Kagome. And yes, I was the one who shattered it in the first place, so of course I will help Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "Word travels fast in this place," he muttered, looking pointedly at a nervously fidgeting Jaken. "Now. Why are you here, Myoga?"

"I heard you were looking for your father's tomb?"

Sesshoumaru nodded. "At least – we were until this Sesshoumaru found the bearer of the Sacred Jewel. He had to protect the jewel – and its protector. "

Kagome smiled, pretending not to hear Jaken, who sat next to her, mutter something about her inability to protect herself.

"Well, I was once the Guardian of the Tomb." Myoga said, turning his walking staff around and around in his hands.

"What!" Sesshoumaru growled. "And you didn't tell this Sesshoumaru about this because…?"

"Well… eh…" the flea was astonished lord Sesshoumaru hadn't tried to kill him yet. _Perhaps… What they say is right… _he thought. _Perhaps._

Kaede, who was poking the fire with a stick, remembered something about Sesshoumaru's father. "They say yer father was a mighty demon lord, feared and respected throughout the lands. The western lands, which ye inherited, were his domain."

Sesshoumaru nodded and clenched his teeth. "It is sad that he was killed so easily."

Kaede clucked her tong. "I wouldn't say that. Yer father fought Ryukotsusei, after all – the mighty dragon lord, the only one more powerful than him."

"Why do you want to find your father's tomb, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked.

"To retrieve what rightfully belongs to this Sesshoumaru! The fang!" he bellowed.

Myoga cleared his throat. "Well, technically, milord, it was intended fo-"

"Inuyasha. The weakest one of the two. This Sesshoumaru knows."

"But he gave you one last chance, lord Sesshoumaru." Myoga said, "and I am the only one that knows about this."

With a sharp intake of breath, Sesshoumaru leaned closer. "What is this last chance you talk about?"

Myoga pointed at the staff Jaken held, the staff that was at least twice as big as the little kappa. "The Staff, milord. The Staff of Two Heads."

**

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update – my friends came yesterday to celebrate my birthday – which was the 6****th****, and my rabbit *sob* died :( on the same day, so I think you'll excuse me for not updating the day I wanted to.**

**Rather 'quiet' chapter, this one, nothing special happens – next chapter will be a big bang though – will Sesshoumaru get Tessaiga or not? That's the question.**

**About this chapter – well, I've always thought it was strange that Jaken's staff – the Staff of Two Heads, which he'd gotten from Sesshoumaru – was the only thing that could lead them to the grave of the Great Dog Demon. I've always seen this as a sign that Inutaisho (as people seem to call him) gave Sesshoumaru **_**one**_**last chance to prove he was not heartless.**

**He failed of course. But will he fail in my version too?**

**Also – why does Myoga suddenly want to help Sesshoumaru? Well, because he heard that the lord will be traveling with a human girl, and he thinks (hopes) he has changed. He hasn't, of course, at least not that much, but Myoga will give him a chance.**

**If you paid attention, you noticed that Kagome will be able to make a subjugation necklace for Sesshoumaru too! Now all I have to do is make up a nice word... Not 'Sit', of course.  
**

**He he, Sesshoumaru doesn't want Kagome to look like Kikyou.**

**Kagome's Kimono:** http[]:/ []/i52 [dot]tinypic[dot]com/35bv1px[dot]jpg.

**竜****馬 ****tatsume = literally 'dragon horse'. I just love fiddling around with kanji. Done with my favorite kanji translator, mahou dot org.**

**Do people even read my book-length authors notes? **

**- Erliane**

**Final Word Count: 5709  
**


	5. The fang of destruction

_**- Chapter **__**Five-  
The fang of destruction**_

_**

* * *

**_**Disclaimer: **Never said I own them. Just having fun with them.

**A/N: The story reached 1000 hits on 12-31-2010! *partays* It's a shame I can't tell who of those 1000 really read it. I only have reviews and alert sign-ups for that. :(**

**This was a very tough chapter to write, which is why it's late (read all about it at the end of the chapter) and I had some New Year's visiting to do. Which reminds me…**

**Happy New Year! This year, I hope you all will be happy, but most of all, be _healthy_!****  
**

* * *

_Once upon a time, there was a large island in the South West of Japan. Half of it belonged to the daiyoukai Sesshoumaru, and the other half to the kappa. On that island, in the province of Tosa, lived a mighty commander named Jaken, with thousands serving under him. His people were __mischievous troublemakers – their pranks usually relatively innocent. But they were rather defenseless when it came to defeating other demons. _

_One day, they were at battle with the demons that controlled the eastern mountains. Their leader, Bikuni, was a formidable foe. The child-sized kappa were no match for the huge demon, and Jaken was in grave danger, on the brink of being eaten by Bikuni. _

_Just then, the demon lord Sesshoumaru showed up, destroying the enormous demon called Bikuni simply because he was in his way. The kappa commander Jaken abandoned his people, claiming that he was indebted to the inuyoukai. _

_The demon lord, however, appeared to ignore him, walking towards a waterfall. There, he retrieved a large staff with two skulls on it from between the streams of water. _

'_If you are able to use that staff,' the demon lord had told him, 'I will allow you to be my servant.' _

_And so it happened. Jaken became one of the most loyal servants the demon lord Sesshoumaru has ever known._

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, ****Province of Sagami, near the shore – 1511 **

"Milord, it's here!" Jaken cried, panting as he dashed in front of his lord, leaping to get a hold of his floating staff. "The place we've been searching for!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked the flea, Myoga, who was currently sitting on her shoulder.

He nodded, and whispered, "Since his father offered him a second chance, I will too."

She followed Jaken and Sesshoumaru, listening as the child-sized kappa rattled on and on about some tomb and how his lord deserved the fang.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru interrupted the kappa. "Are you sure this is it, Jaken?"

Jaken whimpered and cried, "The staff would never lie to you, milord!"

"Allow me to prove it!" he exclaimed. Then, he scampered forward, closer to the stone hedge, not smelling the wolves hiding behind the huge boulders with his inferior kappa senses.

However, he did notice when one of them growled at him. Shrieking, he shot behind his lord. "It is exactly as I expected, milord. These wolves must somehow sense that your father was buried here. They had a bone to pick with your father, milord."

Sesshoumaru snorted and growled, "This Sesshoumaru knows that." He sniffed the air, but he did not, in fact, smell his father at all. All he smelt was… Inuyasha.

_That half breed Inuyasha was here?_ he thought, baring his fangs when he smelt his younger brother. _Is he looking for the fang, too?_

He motioned for Kagome to come closer, and together they moved towards the center of the stone hedge. The wolves were starting to surround them from all sides, but Sesshoumaru was not afraid of them. They weren't even demons. Just ordinary wolves.

"N-n-nice d-doggie!" Jaken stammered, trying to hide behind the staff in his hands.

Sesshoumaru growled – but not at the wolves. At Jaken. Through his mind, Kagome could pick up something about Jaken being foolish for thinking the wolves were dogs.

"Well, but dogs are closely related to wolves, ya know." Kagome said cleverly, rolling her eyes when Sesshoumaru snarled at her, too.

Myoga, who was clinging to a strand of her hair, whimpered and murmured, "Watch out, Kagome. Do you want him to leave you here with the wolves? They are just ordinary wolves. You can't use miko powers on them."

Kagome sighed and dragged a hand through her hair. "Alright. Just hurry up already." she told Sesshoumaru, who hadn't even lifted a finger yet.

He stretched his right arm, pointing at the wolves with a clawed finger. Suddenly, his whole body began to glow, an aura of gold surrounding him.

The wolves charged at him, smelling the youki that would kill them, but he sped up the appearance of his Whip of Light even more, twisting it around elegantly like an extension of his body.

He became a whirlwind of light, barely visible to the human eye. The wolves whimpered when they saw the whip, and they knew their hour had struck. They tried to turn away in the last few seconds, squirming from the light, but it was useless. They were no match for one of the greatest daiyoukai in history.

Bits and pieces of wolf surrounded them, scattered about them in a circle. Kagome closed her eyes, trying not to look at the gore around her, but it was impossible to miss the pieces – they were everywhere.

She looked over at Sesshoumaru and Jaken, who appeared to be used to it. Even Myoga seemed used to this kind of thing.

"Sorry," she mumbled, pressing a hand to her mouth, "Not used to seeing dea-" she ran over to the bushes to throw up.

An eye. It had been an eye. One that, she could've sworn – blinked just now.

She wiped her face with a handkerchief. "Ugh," she groaned. The tang of vomit in her mouth.

"Are you okay, Kagome?" she could hear Myoga, who was still hanging onto a strand of her hair, ask.

She nodded and took her black bag pack from her back to retrieve a water flask and a piece of mint gum. She drunk greedily, grateful to be able to rinse away the bad taste in her mouth.

She tried to ignore the thoughts of one and the mumbles of the other as she ran back to Sesshoumaru and Jaken.

"So obviously a human," Jaken muttered.

_Vomits at the sight of blood, _Sesshoumaru grumbled mentally. _Weak._

When she was back, Sesshoumaru commanded, "Position the staff, Jaken." Jaken nodded and scurried forward, keeping his balance surprisingly well, considering the length of the staff.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. They had waited for her?

Jaken climbed up a huge rock that rested upon two larger boulders. Along the side hung a Shimenawa, a braided rice straw rope festooned with shide - zigzag-shaped paper streamers.

_It's a ward against evil spirits, but_, Kagome thought, snickering, _Apparently it doesn't work, or it would have shocked Jaken by now._

Jaken crushed the massha, the miniature shrine, that was in the center of the boulder with his scaly two-toed foot and swept away the wood and dust. Then, he placed the staff in the middle of the boulder, and looked up, waiting for a reaction.

Suddenly, a loud popping sound was heard and the skull of the woman on Jaken's staff raised her head and opened her eyes. Jaken twitched nervously when it suddenly started shrieking, a high, piercing sound that made his heart skip a beat.

"The beauty responds," Jaken squeaked delightedly, trying to look like he hadn't been caught unaware by the woman's sudden shriek. "Have we been misled?"

_Beauty? _Kagome thought, shivering. _More like an old woman with black hair._

Sesshoumaru scoffed and turned away as he started walking back to the place where they had 'parked', as Kagome said it, the tatsume Ah-Un.

Jaken screeched and quickly jumped off the large boulder to scurry after Sesshoumaru. "Wait for me, milord!" he squeaked.

Then, Sesshoumaru stopped, not even noticing when Jaken bumped into his leg. _Does this have something to do with this Sesshoumaru's brother? _he mused, _all this Sesshoumaru smells is the scent of his dense hanyou brother._

With a curt nod, he started walking again. _Inuyasha was here. His scent stops at the ocean. Which means he swam to the nearest island._

He looked at the girl, who was following them with a confused expression gracing her features. She would not be able to swim across, like him and Jaken.

They would need a boat_. _"Jaken," he bellowed, "We need a boat. Go find one."

Jaken whimpered and bowed, and scurried off into… the wrong direction, Sesshoumaru realized when he heard the sounds of partying men. They were sweaty and drunk, celebrating, probably, a victory. He could hear and smell wild boars roasting on a crackling fire.

But he could also hear the swishing of boats in the water. Grimacing, he started walking into their direction, looking over his shoulder to make sure the girl followed him.

When she didn't, he ordered, "Come. We will need to help Jaken or we won't find a boat until tomorrow if we leave it up to him."

She giggled and followed him as he made his way through the high grass plants, ferns and black pine trees. She could hear men laughing, and unconsciously slid closer to Sesshoumaru.

They were quickly noticed by the drunk soldiers.

"Ah, look, some lad brought us a pretty young lady!" one of them sneered. "Want some fun, huh?" he asked her, looking at her body with greedy eyes.

He exchanged a glance with his comrades. They all nodded. "She'll do."

With a sharp intake of breath, Kagome dashed behind Sesshoumaru's back. Sesshoumaru sighed audibly and waited for the lust-struck men to attack them.

Sure enough, within seconds, they all had their katana out and drawn and started charging at them. Sesshoumaru yawned and jumped up, clawing at them - not even bothering to kill them.

Their boss stepped into the clearing. "Are you mad?" he asked Sesshoumaru when he saw the men lying on the ground, clutching their minor wounds.

Sesshoumaru completely ignored his question, and declared, "We need a boat."

All the soldiers started laughing, elbowing each other and pointing at the weird intruder. "Before the battle? A boat?" their boss guffawed, snorting. "And we're to give it, are we?"

"Yes, you are." Sesshoumaru told him. "This Sesshoumaru needs it."

The general snorted. "I think not."

Sesshoumaru sighed. Then, he dashed forward and grabbed the man by his throat. Kagome ran over to them and clutched Sesshoumaru's wrist.

"Now, Sesshoumaru, you don't have to be so crude about it." she told him. "Please don't kill him?" she asked, using her 'puppy eyes'.

Sesshoumaru appeared to be unaffected by her puppy eyes, and growled at her while he snatched his wrist back, wiping it on his haori.

"Hey, I did _wash _it, you know!" Kagome sputtered, slightly offended.

"This Sesshoumaru _asked _him first, remember. He is the one who's uncivilized, denying this Sesshoumaru something." he roared, pressing his claws in the tender flesh of the man's neck until blood was trickling from the wound.

Then, he threw the man into the sea – not so coincidentally, on top of a boat, the thin wood breaking under the weight of the general.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," Jaken squeaked as he parted the high grass plants in front of him. "I regret to inform there are _no _boats." he said, dusting off his brown haori. He glanced up at his lord, his eyes widening when he noticed the small vessels swishing on the water. "U-unless, you count those over there." he quickly added, pointing at the boats.

Kagome stifled her laughter in the sleeve of her kimono. "Great job, Jaken," she said, patting him on the back.

The soldiers cried out when they saw the tiny frog-like creature. "What is _that!_" one of them yelled, pointing shakily at the kappa.

"Are you guys even _human_?" another asked. The soldiers were starting to surround them, drawing their weapons.

"They're beasts! Kill them!" one of them shouted, waving his balled fist in the air.

"Wait! Stop!" Kagome shouted, "We can talk about this! If you just give us a boat, then-" but they weren't listening any more.

_**Watch out, Kagome, **_the woman told her, _**they will not listen to reason. They probably think Sesshoumaru and Jaken bewitched you.**_

Sesshoumaru turned to Jaken, and told him, "Jaken, this Sesshoumaru leaves them to you." After that, he turned around and walked towards the boats, pulling Kagome with him by her sleeve.

Jaken made a disgusting sound of delight, something that sounded a lot like a growl. Chortling loudly, he stepped forward, waving his Staff of Two Heads in the air.

The soldiers began shouting and charged at the kappa, and at Jaken's command, the old man on the staff opened his mouth. A large flame engulfed all of the soldiers, burning them until nothing but ash was left of them.

Kagome whimpered and stretched her arm towards the shrieking men.

Sesshoumaru watched her as her eyes began to fill with tears. "Do not be foolish." he told her as they stepped into one of the boats. "These men could not be stopped."

She nodded and wiped her eyes. "But they all have friends… family…" she whispered.

Jaken cackled in satisfaction, screaming, "Feel the wrath of the Staff of Two Heads."

Suddenly, Kagome noticed that Myoga had been quiet for a long time. She checked both her shoulders, and dragged a hand through her hair, but he was not there. She stood up and shouted, "Myoga!" balancing herself with her arms as the boat began to rock back and forth.

Sesshoumaru began to hiss at her when she stood up. "Can you swim?" he asked her, pointing at the swishing water.

She nodded. "I took lessons when I was in Elementary School."

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. _They have lessons for that kind of thing in her era? Humans… _he thought, snorting mentally. _And _what_ is Elementary School?_

Myoga appeared suddenly, jumping with her in the boat. "Ah, there you are." she sighed, sitting back again facing Sesshoumaru. "Where were you?" she asked the flea as he took his place on her shoulder for the second time today. She sounded a little suspicious.

"Uh, nowhere." he said, shrugging uncomfortably and deliberately avoiding her eyes, staring at Jaken instead as he nervously fidgeted with the knapsack he carried with him on his back.

"Jaken." Sesshoumaru said, "Are you about done here?" the kappa was still laughing evilly as he spew the endless flame from the staff, not realizing the men were already no more than ash, holding a speech about the arrogance of samurai and the greatness of the majestic Lord Sesshoumaru.

"O-oh," Jaken squeaked nervously, stopping the endless flame that came out of the old man's mouth. "Y-yes, of c-course m-m-milord!" he stuttered, scurrying towards the boat and hopping on.

Grabbing a pole from the bottom of the boat, he started pushing on the bed of the sea to move forward, something he appeared to have done before.

"Mightn't we ask Inuyasha about your father's tomb?" Jaken asked after a long silence, carefully suggesting it to his lord.

"Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru growled, shoving Jaken into the water and using his staff to keep him there. "This Sesshoumaru prefers… not to think of him." he stated, pushing harder.

"F-f-forgive me!" Jaken gurgled. "It's the staff – it's reacting to Inuyasha, I'm sure of it!"

"Speaking of t-the staff – mightn't you remove it? I can't m-move!" Jaken squeaked, bubbles forming around him as he struggled to get some fresh air.

Kagome snatched the staff away from Sesshoumaru and helped the little kappa aboard. "Don't be mean! He's just trying to help!" she shouted, glaring at him.

_She's lucky this Sesshoumaru hasn't killed her yet, _Sesshoumaru thought, snarling at her.

"Hey!" she yelled, hearing him think it. "Just _try _it! I got some last minute tips from Kaede and I'm not afraid to use them! I'll purify your ass to hell before you can even lift a finger!" she exclaimed, letting her index finger light up with miko powers to prove her point.

_**Keep up the good work, **_the woman in her head said, _**don't let him tell you what to do!**_

She nodded and smiled, ignoring Jaken as he complained about her filthy human stench and how she should keep her hands off him.

_Ungrateful monkey, _she thought, giving him his pole back. _Only cares about Sesshoumaru._

"Why _do _you want the fang, Sesshoumaru?" she asked him, helping Jaken peddle by using her hands to move the small boat forward.

"It is the fang this Sesshoumaru seeks." he stated, staring off into the distance.

_A fang? What can you do with… a fang? _ She thought, scratching her head.

"I know that. But why do you want it?" she asked.

She didn't get a reply from the lord himself, but from Myoga.

"It is a sword. The last thing one of the brothers will inherit from their father." he said, his eyes filling with nostalgia as he thought about the Great Dog Demon.

"So why does he want it so desperately?" she asked, frowning at Sesshoumaru, "Is it because it was his father's, or because it will make him stronger?"

"While it will make him stronger, indeed," Myoga said, stroking his short white moustache, "I believe it is because he wants to be stronger than his father, be superior to him."

She blinked. "Outdo his… father?"

"I believe it is, in fact, common for males. They want to surpass their father in every way possible." Myoga said, staring at the torrent of the water. "Even I wanted to do better than my father."

Kagome nodded. She understood now. "And, did you succeed?"

"Of course!" Myoga exclaimed. "I was a servant of the lord, while my father was a good for nothing drunkard, working only to get his daily portion of blood-sucking done." The flea pointed at his mouth, which was adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood.

"I sure bested him, didn't I?"

"You sure did!" she agreed, patting him on the head with one finger.

"Now, Sesshoumaru, do you mind telling me where we're going?" she asked, turning to Sesshoumaru, who sat on the opposite side of the boat, looking like he was lost in thought. She knew better. He was closely paying attention to their conversation.

He flinched, pretending to be pulled from his musings. "Hn?" he asked, gazing at her with a dazed expression on his face.

"You heard me," she said, scoffing. "Don't pretend."

He ignored her and said, "We're paying my little brother a visit,"

"But aren't we supposed to hunt for jewel shards?"

"Quiet, human." Sesshoumaru said, shaking his head. "With the fang, hunting the shards will only be easier for me, and thus, for you, too."

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, ****an island near Izu – 1511**

Inuyasha sat against a tree, peacefully dozing when he suddenly felt something connect with his cheek. Growling, he jumped up, to look right into the face of…

"Sesshoumaru? What're _you _doing here?" Inuyasha asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Tell me where our father's tomb is," Sesshoumaru commanded, clenching his teeth at the stench of his younger brother.

"Why would you ask me?" Inuyasha yelled, balling his fist.

"_Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known to its protector." _Sesshoumaru said, recalling the day his father told him the riddle about his own grave.

Inuyasha scrunched up his face in confusion. "What're ya talking about?"

"No other clues are known." said Jaken, who was hiding behind Sesshoumaru's haori.

Inuyasha snorted. "I've got no idea what you're talking about." he spat, growling at his older brother.

Sesshoumaru grimaced. "Ah, but this Sesshoumaru does." Suddenly, he dashed forward and grabbed his hanyou brother by the neck. "Of all the places for him to hide it… Under our very own noses. Or, actually, _above_ our noses. Right, Inuyasha?"

"What're ya talking about!" Inuyasha croaked, squirming from Sesshoumaru's grip, and, as a result, receiving much more damage to his neck than planned.

"Yes, what _are _you talking about, Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked, emerging from her hiding place behind one of the trees.

"Father wanted to keep it a secret. Which is why he hid it right here. Luckily for this Sesshoumaru, he found out." He moved two fingers, his index and middle, towards Inuyasha's eye. A yellow, lighting-like flash appeared.

Inuyasha screamed, and the flash of light grew longer and longer as Sesshoumaru slowly moved his fingers away from his eye.

Right then, something came out of Inuyasha's right eye, a small, black ball. Sesshoumaru had let go of the groaning Inuyasha, who was currently lying on the floor and clutching his right eye.

Sesshoumaru held the black ball, which appeared to be a black pearl, between his thumb and index finger. "Hidden inside a black pearl. _Very_ clever, father."

"_Seeing, yet never seen. Protected, yet never known to its protector." _Jaken chanted, jumping up and down as he praised his lord's intelligence.

Inuyasha jumped up and opened his right eye. No pupil was seen in the iris, it was just an unwavering layer of honey gold right now. He waved his hand before his right eye, and started yelling insults at Sesshoumaru when he noticed he couldn't see a thing through it.

"Not amused, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru said, smirking as he threw the pearl in the air and caught it again. "Neither is this Sesshoumaru."

Inuyasha clawed at him, but instead of skin, he grazed thin air. Sesshoumaru had leapt in the air and struck at him with his Whip of Light. "Die."

"Okay," Kagome yelled quickly, "Can we go now?"

Inuyasha's head perked up, suddenly noticing her. "That's the girl that bears the Sacre-" he began, but Sesshoumaru struck him again. "Don't even think about it, _little brother."_

He glanced around for his vassal. "Jaken." he said, and when he didn't respond, a little louder. "Jaken! Where are you!" he bellowed.

Jaken was on his knees, searching for the staff, which, somehow, had fallen out of his hands when he danced his little victory dance. "Y-yes, milord!" he squeaked, grabbing his staff and darting over to Sesshoumaru. "I've got the staff."

Sesshoumaru dropped the pearl on the ground and brought down Jaken's staff, generating a pinging noise as it lit up.

"You'll shatter it, like the jewel!" Kagome warned, "Watch out!"

"No, this Sesshoumaru won't!" he said, shaking his head. The old man on the staff started cackling loudly, producing a deafening sound.

"The old man is laughing." Jaken said quietly. Then, his eyes widened. "The old man is laughing!" he shouted. "We have succeeded! The tomb is opening!"

The pearl suddenly stopped glowing, and the black ball vanished to reappear in a whirlpool of energy.

Sesshoumaru stared at it for a moment, his golden eyes full of determination. Then, he stepped in, dragging Kagome and Jaken with him by his Mokomoko.

Misty fog surrounded the grave of the Great Dog Demon Tetsuo. The sky was unnaturally blue, and Kagome could spot strangely shaped rocks as they flew towards an armored skeleton.

She wrinkled her nose. "Couldn't they at least _bury _him?"

Myoga, who hung from a strand of Kagome's hair, shook his head. "This is tradition."

Kagome snorted, taking in the huge carcass of the Great Dog Demon Tetsuo that lay in the middle of what appeared to be an island. "Well, I for one wouldn't want to see my father's bones lying in the open, exposed to who knows what."

Skeleton birds flew all around them, screeching when they saw the intruder.

"Do you think they're hostile?" she asked Myoga, nodding at the skeleton birds.

"No, they're just not used to visitors, I guess. They are also guardians of the tomb, just like I was."

Kagome nodded. "I see."

They moved closer to the huge mouth opening of the carcass. Kagome cried out. "Are we s-supposed to… _enter _him?" she asked, clenching her teeth.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "The fang is inside."

They flew through his throat and into his belly, which was cluttered with skulls on the bottom. On the skulls, in the middle, a large stone stood, embedded in it a sword.

She snickered when she saw the shabby sword. It looked like it belonged in the junkyard, not embedded in a stone on the grave of a powerful dog youkai.

_So the ruckus was all about this piece of junk? Sesshoumaru will surely not be happy about that…_

But to her surprise, the daiyoukai didn't stop getting closer. He dropped them somewhere on his way to the stone, and landed on a skull. Confidently, he strode forward, to the fang.

"At last This Sesshoumaru has found the fang. Now he will take possession of it." Sesshoumaru uttered, smirking as he reached out to touch the hilt of the shabby-looking sword.

It was curved, rather small, around 65 centimeters long. Its blade was cut, like it had been passed down for generations, and hadn't been maintained for years.

"The blade that can kill a thousand demons in one stroke," Myoga whispered, his eyes wide.

Jaken jumped up and down. "They say it was forged from his father's fang."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Is that why his right fang isn't whole?"

Myoga shook his head. "No. The fang that the smith Totosai used for the sword had grown again long before Lord Tetsuo died."

Sesshoumaru took a hold of the sword, trying to pull it out of the stone it was embedded in. After a few seconds, the blade suddenly started vibrating, sending out lightening that scorched Sesshoumaru's hand and wrist.

He groaned, letting go of the sword, but the light struck his hand even after he had let go of it. After a few seconds of agony, it suddenly stopped. Sesshoumaru glared at his right hand, which glowed dark blue and smelt like burnt flesh.

Jaken whimpered. "It's not stuck, is it?"

"He has done his work well," Sesshoumaru grumbled. "The blade cannot be freed."

"SESSHOUMARU!" Inuyasha cried, leaping from the skeleton bird that had transported him to his father's belly. "We're not finished, yet." he growled, dashing forward.

He clawed at Sesshoumaru, but missed when Sesshoumaru leapt up with astonishing speed. Inuyasha fell on the skulls, crushing a few of them. Groaning, he jumped up again. He balled his fists and glanced around.

"Where did he go!" he growled. Kagome was with Jaken, hiding behind some bones where the stomach had been.

"You should be more respectful," Sesshoumaru shouted from his place on a bone on the walls of his father's belly. "It is, after all, our father's tomb."

"You're the one who's here to rob his grave!" Inuyasha yelled, stomping his foot. Suddenly, he turned around. "The blade…" he whispered, staring with wide eyes at the shabby sword.

"Huh," Inuyasha snorted when he saw the battered blade. "This piece of junk is Tessaiga?" he ran his finger along the edge of the blade. "Hah! It can't even cut paper!"

"Draw the sword, lord Inuyasha!" Myoga yelled from his position on Kagome's shoulder.

"Hey!" Kagome shouted, balling her fist at her side. "Who's side are you on, anyway?"

"As long as one of the sons gets it, my job's done." Myoga muttered, stroking his moustache.

Through his mind, Kagome could catch Sesshoumaru thinking some thoughts about allowing Inuyasha to draw the sword and then steal it from him.

"Oh… yeah, that would work, too." Kagome mumbled, climbing up the bones so she would be safe if the fighting started.

_**Kagome!**_ The voice in her head bellowed, _**You know stealing is wrong.**_

_Yeah, but from that jerk, too? _she thought mentally scoffing, _He nearly killed me!_

_**That was because of the jewel and you know it. **_

_Well, we have to hunt for shards and if that fang can make it easier, why not?_

She nodded, and ignored the voice that mumbled, _**Stubborn, so stubborn.**_

Inuyasha was still staring at the sword, an expression of confusion scrunching up his face. "Why would I be able to draw it!" he yelled at Myoga.

"It was always intended that you would inherit the sword." When Sesshoumaru glared at him, Myoga hid behind Kagome's hair. "He was entrusted with the, er, t-tomb, right? Enough p-proof."

Inuyasha nodded and reached up, touching the loosened bindings around the hilt with one finger. Then, he shook his head and turned around, growling at Sesshoumaru.

"Inheritance? Entrusted? I never even knew the man. I don't care about this piece of junk. I care about _you-" _he nodded at Sesshoumaru, snarling, "not accepting me!"

He leapt upwards and clawed where Sesshoumaru's throat had been only seconds ago. "Good thing you're in a tomb, 'cause you're gonna die, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha cried, using the internal bones of his father's abdomen as a launching pad.

"Now, was that aimed at this Sesshoumaru?" Sesshoumaru teased, grimacing as he dodged another attack. "You fight like a child."

"Draw the sword! Do not fight unarmed!" Myoga yelled from his hiding place behind Kagome's hair. "Prove yourself. To your brother, and your father."

Inuyasha snorted. "I'll hurt him _without _the dumb sword."

Kagome's palm connected with her face. _He is _so _stupid. Doesn't he realize Sesshoumaru will kill him if this continues? _

_**Apparently, someone has to tell him. **_The woman in her head said, yawning.

"Tell him," she said to Myoga, "that he can only hurt Sesshoumaru by pulling out the sword." She nodded at the shabby katana. "He can only hurt him in his ego."

Myoga raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were on his-" he nodded at Sesshoumaru, "side?"

"Sure I am. I just think the Ice Prince needs someone to rub in that he's not as good as he thinks he is." she whispered. "And hurting him in the ego will do more damage than in the flesh."

She snorted. "Unless Inuyasha can hurt his _face, _of course." she added, snickering.

"Alright," Myoga said, watching the battle with his enormous eyes wide. "Inuyasha!" he yelled. "You can only hurt him by pulling out the sword! Hurt him in the ego!"

Kagome patted him on the head with one finger. "Well done, Myoga. We will make this more interesting yet. This way, Sesshoumaru won't kill his brother."

Inuyasha had stopped fighting. Of course. Myoga was right. "I'll do that." he grumbled. "If only to see the _look _on your face!" he boasted.

He stalked over to the stone and touched the hilt of the sword without hesitation, enveloping it with his entire hand.

"Are you sure he can get it out?" Kagome asked, watching from their safe hiding place.

"Not entirely," Myoga said, coughing a little. "But eh- we'll see. Right?" He smiled sheepishly.

After a few seconds of touching it, nothing happened to Inuyasha. He started pulling a little. Still nothing happened.

"Is he immune to the spell that thwarted my lord?" Jaken squeaked.

Sesshoumaru growled, averting his eyes. Why didn't the spell hurt his brother, too? He had never expected that Inuyasha would actually _be _able to get the sword out.

Inuyasha pulled and pulled, but it didn't move an inch. After a few seconds of pulling, a pillar of blue light surrounded the sword. He pulled until he couldn't feel his arm any more, but it was no use. Then, the light suddenly died down and the sword was still there, embedded in the golden stone.

"It didn't… work?" Kagome asked, shaking her head in disbelief. "So neither of the sons can get it?"

Jaken squeaked happily, dancing around on a few skulls. "It didn't work!" he chanted.

"Are you done?" Sesshoumaru asked Inuyasha. "Because this Sesshoumaru is." He jumped up, soaring towards Inuyasha, clawing to draw him away from the sword. Then he pinned his younger brother against the wall of bones.

"Have you met this Sesshoumaru's Poison Claw yet?" Sesshoumaru asked, flexing his claws as a greenish light lit up his entire palm. He clawed at Inuyasha, but his younger brother dodged his attack at the last second. Instead, his poison melted the wall of bones until a large hole was visible.

The poison blew up to where Kagome was hiding with Jaken. She put her sleeve in front of her mouth. "Can't… breathe…" She covered her eyes with her arm, unconsciously purifying the poison surrounding her while she did it. The jewel shards lit up, but she didn't see it.

"Oh. It's gone now. Well, that's a relief." She said, sitting down to enjoy the show.

Inuyasha ran the other side, but was simply no match for Sesshoumaru's full demon speed.

"Running?" Sesshoumaru asked, catching up with him easily. His eyes bled red when he felt the power of the jewel again, but he couldn't fight it this time. His claws elongated to reveal a long rope-like flash of light – his Whip of Light. He struck Inuyasha, once, twice, until the hanyou lay on the floor, shielding his face from the whip.

Suddenly, a skeleton bird shot down from the sky, clawing at Kagome with its bony paw. She looked around for her black bag pack, in which she had stored her dagger, but it was nowhere to be found.

She glanced around to see if there were any other weapons. She tried to lift a skull to smash the skeleton apart with from the bottom of Sesshoumaru's father's abdomen, and groaned when she couldn't. Panting heavily, she ran towards the shabby sword.

"It'll have to do," she muttered, backing up against the golden stone just when the skeleton bird charged at her again. Her right hand found the hilt without looking at it, and she pulled hard, like she had seen Inuyasha do minutes before.

Inuyasha was backing up against the wall of bones, shielding his face and waiting for the end when he heard someone say, "Oops."

She hadn't actually thought she would be able to pull the sword out of the stone. She had thought she would die there, death by skeleton bird. No one would've believed her. But she pulled it out, and used the hilt – the part that looked the most solid – to smash the skeleton bird in two pieces.

"What?" Sesshoumaru grumbled, turning his head while his poison claw still glowed green. Two inuyoukai gazed at her, baffled when they noticed the sword in her hands.

"It just… came out!" Kagome said, turning the sword over in her hands.

Jaken fainted when he saw the sword in her hands, unable to believe that she, a _human, _of all things, could pull the sword out while his lord couldn't.

"Pay attention, Sesshoumaru!" roared Inuyasha as he clawed at Sesshoumaru. "Don't look at her!"

But Sesshoumaru was already gone, and stood in front of a dazed Kagome.

"How is it possible that you could pull it out while this Sesshoumaru couldn't?" he roared, looking at the sword in her hands. Through the link she had formed between his mind she could feel hurt but mostly anger that _she, _a human girl, had pulled it out.

"I don't know," she said. "The spell had no effect on me."

His eyes suddenly bled red again. "And you will _die _for disgracing this Sesshoumaru in front of his brother and vassal!"

The woman sounded a bit panicky. _**Is he under the influence of his beast? When did that happen! **_

Kagome scratched her head. When did that happen? _Of course! When I purified the poison!_

The woman groaned. _**Well, you better keep the sword away from him or he'll kill you and that Inuyasha. But don't forget that he's under the influence of his beast. Whatever he says to you, I'm sure he doesn't mean it.**_

Inuyasha came to her assistance. "Leave her alone, Sesshoumaru. She has nothing to do with this."

Sesshoumaru turned around, fingering his silvery hair. "Why would you protect her, hanyou? Why would you love her? Is it because she looks like that Kikyou?"

"Eh…" Inuyasha was speechless, looking from Sesshoumaru to Kagome and back again.

"This Sesshoumaru certainly didn't inherit these feelings of compassion from our late father. But you did inherit them, Inuyasha. Didn't you?"

Sesshoumaru snorted. "She is only a human."

"A human you have promised to help protect the jewel. Did ya forget, Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru ignored him. "Is it because you're one yourself, perhaps? Is that what endears you to those humans, who never took you in as one of theirs? They hate you, Inuyasha. Don't forget that."

Then, he turned around and prepared his right hand for the poison claw. "I have no such weakness."

Green poison sprayed from his palm, enveloping Kagome and suffocating her as she fought to keep her eyes open. The bones behind her melted and wrapped around her like a suffocating blanket.

"So fragile, don't you think, Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru growled. "But not just humans. Half-breeds, like you, too." he said, turning around to face his enraged younger brother.

"You killed an innocent girl!" He took a take-off run and leapt into the air, screaming, "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" as he clawed at the daiyoukai. The claw-formed lighting flashes connected with the wall of bones, and in a second, he was wrapped up in Sesshoumaru's Mokomoko, floating in the air.

"You, with your dirty blood, are not this Sesshoumaru's equal!" Sesshoumaru growled, his red eyes narrowing. Then, he twisted the Mokomoko so that Inuyasha was released from the long, cream-colored fur, and collided with the floor of skulls. "Your mother should've known better, mating with a fullblooded demon to create _you!"_

"I don't care if you insult _me, _but if you insult my mother, I get angry." Inuyasha roared, crawling up. "_Really _angry." He dashed forward and struck Sesshoumaru in his shoulder-plate.

He hit his brother again, hitting his chest armor. Sesshoumaru stared wide-eyed at his brother as he fell backwards, connecting with the wall.

Jaken whimpered. "What's happening? A moment ago he was useless!"

Sesshoumaru's armor shattered, but he only smirked. "You fight for a memory and a mortal girl? If this Sesshoumaru had known this sooner, he'd have killed a human you care about sooner."

Breathing heavily, Kagome emerged from the liquid bones. "Phew! I thought I was a goner!"

She looked from Inuyasha to Sesshoumaru and back again. _Uh… Who do I give the sword to? Sesshoumaru's still all beasty and Inuyasha actually cares about my life. Who knew?_

_**Give it to Inuyasha.**_ The woman told her. _**Sesshoumaru's too dangerous now.**_

She nodded and walked over to the boy. "Here. Now, don't die, will you?"

He was staring at her, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. "Why are you still alive?"

"Hmm?" She scratched her head. "I dunno."

_The sword protected her, _Sesshoumaru thought, angered.

"Now, come on," Myoga said, hopping on Inuyasha's shoulder. "Use the sword."

Kagome raised an eyebrow. She could feel, through the link, that Sesshoumaru was actually… afraid?

Suddenly, his aura started to glow purple, and he was changing. His hair blew up from the force of it, pulling skulls with him in a tornado of youki.

"Let's see if you, a half breed, can even _wield _the Tessaiga." He said, just as his skin began to turn white, and his nose elongated to form a muzzle. He exploded in a bright red light, flashing around the place at least twice. Then, he crashed down, blowing up the skulls. A huge canine stood in the middle of it, roaring at Kagome and Inuyasha.

Kagome whimpered, hiding behind Inuyasha. _Not good. Not good at all. That's his beast form, isn't it? _She asked the woman that inhabited her mind.

_**Yes. It is. **_The woman told her, _**And he is angry. Very angry.**_

"I never should've pulled the sword out." Kagome breathed. "How are we going to stop him now?"

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger! Hehe! *rubs hands while cackling*  
**

**I know I said I'd probably let Sesshoumaru have Tessaiga. But as ****Vou**** from Dokuga pointed out to me, giving him Tessaiga would be like denying him his own sword. Bakusaiga. Which he created himself. And so a huge dilemma came into existence. Because, if Sesshoumaru would replace Inuyasha, it wouldn't work - because entire parts of the plot originate from Tessaiga.**

**Which means I simply have to write in Bakusaiga early so he can get new attacks like Red Bakusaiga. Sorry people. One way or the other, because I can't just skip all the episodes that evolve around Tessaiga. **

**I do kind of dislike Bakusaiga as sword name. :(**

**I feel like I'm betraying Sesshoumaru a bit, like I'm waving Tessaiga in front of him and snatching it away in the last second. *bows* Sorry Sessh. I hope you can forgive me. **

**And you'll see what I'm going to do about Tokijin.**

**I hope you liked this one (I actually felt nauseous when I wrote about Kagome being nauseous, so I think that's a good one.)**

**Most males **_**do **_**want to be better than their father. Don't you think?**

鉄雄**= Tetsuo, **_**Iron Superiority**_**. I call him that. I like it. Better than InuTaisho, which is, after all, a title. And Inupapa sounds rather… weird. **

**Next A/N, I will spend my 300 words on kanji, especially for TKE from Dokuga! *rubs hands* It's going to be **_**fun!**_

**See ya, I'll be back with another chapter before you know it. **

**-Erliane**

**Final Word Count: 7777**


	6. The web of the beast

_**- Chapter **__**Six-  
The web of the beast**_

_**

* * *

**_**Disclaimer: **I. Does. _Not_. Own. Inuyasha.

**A/N: ****There's been a discussion about taiyoukai/daiyoukai for ages. WHO CARES! They're both correct. Stop telling me it's wrong. **

大妖怪**= Daiyoukai, Great Demon. **大_**can**_** be pronounced as tai. I chose dai. ****^_^**

**

* * *

**  
_**Quote by **_死鬼_**, Shinuki, 'Death Devil', Spider Daiyoukai, written by the Great Daikumo of the North himself in the third year of Emperor Kougon's regime (1316). **_

'_A demon's beast is like a spider. The beast will spin a web inside __your heart, a web you won't be able to escape from. You will be like an insect stuck in its grasp, unable to break away._

_When you mature, your beast will mature, too. So be ready, demon, for when that happens, you will have to be prepared. Train yourself until you think you cannot be trained any more, and even then, you must continue. Drain yourself, and find a way to ignore your demon's lust for power._

_Accomplish the impossible, do what cannot be done. Only then will you be strong enough to flee from your beast, the beast that is inside us all. Do not allow it to be free. For it will destroy you._

_I cannot tell you what you will have to do to stop it. You will have to do that yourself. But I am convinced that you will find a way, somehow.'_

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, ****Grave of Lord Tetsuo – 1511**

Sesshoumaru had always thought that only the weakest demons could be overpowered by their beast selves. He remembered reading the scroll thatShinuki, the great Spider Daiyoukai from the North had written. He had never believed it would be true. He realized now, that he had been underestimating his beast completely.

A fault of which he had only accused Lesser Demons. He was ashamed of himself, ashamed that his beast had almost killed the girl he had promised to help protect the jewel. He might not have liked humans, but he had honor. And when Sesshoumaru promised something, he would do it.

For here he was, internally fighting with his beast, his demon self – and losing. Losing badly. Trying to remember the advice, however small, Shinuki had given in his writings days before his death.

He tried searching his mind for a solution. 'Be prepared.' 'Train yourself'. 'Drain yourself.' He snorted mentally. That wouldn't work now. 'Find a way to ignore your demon's lust for power.'

How. How? How was he supposed to control his beasts' fierce desire for the jewel?

* * *

Kagome heard all of it – him fighting internally with the beast, when he lost, and also when he tried to search his mind for a solution.

_Find a way to ignore your demon's lust for power__. _It echoed through her mind, nibbling at her conscience. She did it again. She used the power of the jewel again, although, unconsciously, and now he was a danger to her _and _Inuyasha.

A way to ignore his demon's lust for power. It repeated itself over and over in her mind, until her head ached. Was she forgetting something? Could she help, like last time?

No. She didn't have her bow and arrows with her now, her damn bag was nowhere to be found. Besides, she didn't trust her powers not to purify him.

While Inuyasha was busy fighting Beast Sesshoumaru – not doing much damage with the shabby sword, Kagome turned the pockets of her Nagabakama upside down.

Out came a paperclip, a piece of paper, a hair ribbon, an eraser, a thin piece of string and the small, dark red beads and the magatama beads Kaede had given her.

_The beads! Of course!_ She knelt down and began threading the round red beads and the cream magatama beads on the string. Kaede had told her the piece of string was needed to form the necklace, and that it would be impossible to make it without the string.

Just before they left, she had moved the beads and string from her bag pack to her pocket, just in case – and she was thankful for that, now. Because this was their only chance of success.

* * *

Inuyasha was determined to win this fight. It was Sesshoumaru or him, after all. And with the Tessaiga, he was sure he could win.

The huge dog was at least five times larger than Inuyasha, if not more. Its eyes were blood red, all traces of a gold or blue pupil gone. He had a large, curling mane, and the same tufts of curling fur were at the back of his large paws. His marks were nearly the same as the human Sesshoumaru, the only difference was that the magenta stripes came together in a v around his mouth instead of being two separate slashes on his cheeks.

Inuyasha had never before seen a inuyoukai in his true form. He had seen pictures of his late father as inuyoukai, but he could not deny that seeing one that was right in front of you was quite different altogether.

He looked over his shoulder, at the girl that – had been there seconds ago. He glanced around. Where was she?

He found her somewhere behind him, kneeling as she threaded beads on a necklace. He snorted. Making necklaces while in grave danger. Somehow, it was funny.

"What the hell are you _doing!" _He yelled at her as he dodged one of Sesshoumaru's claws, which was headed for him from above. "Stand up, you might have to run to avoid him!"

She shook her head. "You won't be able to fight him off. He can't fight _himself_ off."

Inuyasha stared at her, bewildered. Which was a bad idea, because he barely managed to dodge the next attack by Sesshoumaru. "What do you mean, he can't fight himself off?"

"That's not him. That's his beast. Now, hurry up and fight him while I finish this." She said, pointing at the round beads in her hands.

Suddenly, he realized what she was doing. The beads looked a lot like the ones that were around _his _neck. She was making a subjugation necklace for Sesshoumaru.

"Alright," he said. "Whatever you want. But I'm gonna teach him a lesson with Tessaiga."

"Are you sure you can?" she asked innocently, not looking up from her work.

He snorted and charged at Sesshoumaru, holding the battered blade of Tessaiga up. "I'd say this fight is over before it even starts."

He waved Tessaiga in front of his brother, and Sesshoumaru backed away a bit, growling at him. Then, he leapt up, preparing himself to attack Sesshoumaru. "Ok. Now don't disappoint me, Tessaiga!" he growled, slashing at Sesshoumaru's neck.

He didn't even make a scratch. Tessaiga was pinging, a loud noise that hurt Inuyasha's ears. "Huh?" he mumbled, looking at Tessaiga. "Why didn't it work?"

Sesshoumaru jumped on top of him, snarling when his hanyou brother got away. Inuyasha dodged Sesshoumaru time and again, leaping away every single time to evade the huge jaws.

Sesshoumaru was panting, and his spit became a poison that burned away the skulls under his mouth. Inuyasha turned to Myoga, who was still sitting on his shoulder.

"Myoga, what's wrong with the sword?" he asked, squeezing the flea between thumb and index finger. "Why doesn't it work?"

Myoga coughed and floated to the ground when Inuyasha released him. "It's not the sword, milord. It's you." he said, gathering his knapsack. "It's you."

"What do you mean it's me-" Inuyasha growled, but, suddenly, he noticed that Myoga was hopping away. "Hey! Where are you going!" he shouted after him.

"If you'll excuse me!" Myoga yelled, hopping over to the wall of bones as he called for a skeleton bird. "It'll make a lovely heirloom, don't you think?"

"Myoga! Where's your loyalty-" Inuyasha started, but he was interrupted by Sesshoumaru, who had started clawing at him again after a brief rest.

"Oh-oh." Inuyasha said when he noticed the enormous miasma that pooled right under Sesshoumaru's mouth. "Kagome!" he yelled. "Climb up! The poison will kill you!"

"Right!" she nodded, and gathered all the beads that weren't on the string yet before she ran over to the place where she'd been with Jaken before, and dragged Jaken with her by his two-fingered hand. There, she also found her black bag pack.

"Where is that thing when you need it," Kagome muttered, swinging it over her left shoulder.

Jaken began to sputter. "I am a demon!" he squeaked, "I am nearly immune to poison!" he protested as she dragged him away.

Kagome shook her head and coughed heavily. "Not to this poison."

Together with Jaken, she climbed up the wall of bones. "Will he be okay?" she nodded at Inuyasha, who was currently dodging Sesshoumaru's Poison Claw.

"Oh, you mean Inuyasha?" Jaken asked, raising his eyebrows. "I'm not sure. I hope lord Sesshoumaru won't spare him." He said, cackling evilly.

"And Sesshoumaru? Won't it be dangerous for _him _to stay down there?" she asked, pulling herself up on a ring of bones she could sit on.

Jaken joined her on the ring. "Lord Sesshoumaru?" he squeaked. "Oh, _he'll _be fine. He's immune to his own poison. Do you really think he would have done this, otherwise?"

"I suppose not," she muttered, taking out the beads and the half-finished necklace of subjugation. "But he's endangering you, too, isn't he?"

Jaken stared at his clasped, scaly hands. "Milord doesn't really… care about that." he admitted, not daring to look her in the eye.

She nodded. "I suspected that." she muttered as she began threading the beads again. She was nearly done now.

Jaken glanced up at the fighting Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, grateful that she hadn't commented on why he would _ever _stay with his lord.

Inuyasha fell back against a wall, coughing when he inhaled to much miasma. "I can't stay down here too much longer." He grumbled, climbing up a huge bone. Using it as a launching pad, he jumped up his father's throat, holding on to what appeared to be a huge plant.

His arms and legs were going numb, and it was hard to even hold on to the bean stalk. "Ugh!" He yelled when his brother suddenly appeared, biting down and enveloping him in his mouth.

"This piece of junk is useless," Inuyasha grumbled, eyeing Tessaiga. "But I can still hurt you." And he demonstrated that fact my jabbing it in Sesshoumaru's right eye.

Sesshoumaru roared and jumped up, floating through their father's abdomen, throat and mouth. Inuyasha squeezed himself out of Sesshoumaru's mouth, crashing down on father's armor plate.

The huge dog demon was blinking and squeezing his right eye shut, and was too occupied with that to notice anything else.

Kagome tied the ends of the necklace in a knot. "Ah. It's done," she said as she put the finished necklace of subjugation in her pocket.

She looked heavenwards, where Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had flown off to. "I guess we have to climb up, now." She groaned.

Jaken nodded. "It's rather dangerous here, with those skeleton birds," he squeaked, pointing at one that eyed them suspiciously from the darkness.

"Alright then," Kagome said, dragging herself up on another bone. "I hope Inuyasha can hold him off just a bit longer."

_**He'll have to, **_the woman said. _**Or you will all be in big trouble.**_

_Gee, thanks for reminding me, Whisper Woman._

Inuyasha swung at Sesshoumaru's huge paw, which was threatening to land on top of him. He could almost hear his older brother scoff and say, _Doesn't work now, does it?_

But the inuyoukai apparently couldn't speak in his animal form.

After lots of dodging and useless swinging on Inuyasha's part, Kagome and Jaken emerged from the huge demon's mouth, albeit sweating and panting.

"Finally," she grumbled, dusting off her dirty clothes. "I thought it was never gonna end!"

Jaken was also panting, leaning heavily on his Staff of Two Heads. "It seems Inuyasha still can't defeat lord Sesshoumaru, even though he has the fang!" he said delightedly, sitting down behind a few bushes to enjoy the show.

She sat down next to him, retrieving the subjugation necklace from her pocket. "Okay." She mumbled. "Now how am I going to do this?"

She rubbed her forehead. "Try to remember… what did Kaede do…"

"Argh!" she groaned in frustration. "I can't remember!"

The woman in her head was apparently a miko, because she coughed delicately and informed her, _**Infuse your miko powers into the necklace, using the charm words. **_

Ah! Some advice! _The charm words? What're those?_

_**The Japanese people have many kanji characters for 'obey'. Now, please write this down…**_

"Alright," she muttered, not even noticing the weird look Jaken gave her when he heard her talking to herself. She got a piece of paper and a pencil from her bag pack.

_**The order is as fol**__**lows: **_守_**, the kanji of shu,**_ 遵_**, the kanji of jun, **_靡_**, the kanji of bi**_, 順, _**another jun**_, 随_, __**the kanji of zuu**__,_ 従, _**the kanji of juu**_, 徇, _**the kanji of jun**_.

_Alright. Shu, jun, bi, jun, zuu, juu, jun. And they all mean obey?_

She could feel that the woman in her mind was nodding. _**To some extent, yes. **_

_Alright. __Now I just concentrate, right?_

She gathered the necklace, letting it rest on her thumbs while she made an aviator shape with her two thumbs and index fingers. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. But all she could hear were Sesshoumaru's roars and Inuyasha's screams.

She repeated _Shu, jun, bi, jun, zuu, juu, jun,_ over and over again, but nothing happened.

Inuyasha stood right in front of her, looking at the beads. "What're ya doin'?" he asked, searching her face. Suddenly, he backed away.

"No, no, please don't tell me I made you cry." He groaned, face palming. "Please don't cry!"

She wiped her eyes. "Well, what do you expect me to do. Laugh? I can't make the beads work, the sword is useless, and Sesshoumaru's lost his mind and will kill us both!"

"Well, you're not supposed to be doing anything. Just _shut up _and let me _**protect**_you!" he roared, losing his patience.

"Huh?" Kagome muttered, "I didn't just imagine that. Did I?"

_**Kagome! It doesn't work because he's in his animal form! Find a way to turn him back! **_The woman yelled at her, her voice sounding panicked.

"Right," she said, and she started digging in her bag pack. PJs, flashlight, sleeping bag, snacks, ramen, First Aid box… and finally, her bow and a quiver full of arrows.

"Okay. Now I've got to get this work." she muttered, placing the arrow on the shaft and taking the string between her index and middle finger. "But what do I aim for? Not Sesshoumaru…"

_**Aim it at the ground. **_The woman advised, _**It should work if you do that. **_

Sesshoumaru closed in on them, growling loudly. Inuyasha rested the sword on his shoulder, and stalked towards the huge inuyoukai. "Just stay here and _watch, _Kagome_._"

He jumped off the armor plate they were on and on another, sighing when Sesshoumaru roared louder. "Yeah, yeah, roar, roar to you too. " he snorted. "Come on. Let's get it _over _with."

Suddenly, the sword in his hands began to pulse, like the sword itself had a heartbeat. Inuyasha pulled it closer, inspecting the blade. "Huh? What's it doin'?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Sesshoumaru leapt up, much higher than he actually had to, aiming with his claw outstretched at Inuyasha's face. Inuyasha brought up the sword, shielding his face, and the second it connected with Sesshoumaru's paw, it transformed into a huge fang slicing Sesshoumaru's paw until only a stump was left. A waterfall of blood streamed from the open wound, trickling on the ground.

At the same time, Kagome sent an arrow flying close to Sesshoumaru, an arrow that purified his beast form and helped him transform back again. She could distinctly make out the form of a huge dog that roared when its left leg came off, and then he was a youkai in human form again, standing on four – no, three - legs.

"Milord!" Jaken cried, jumping up, but Kagome pushed him down again. "Don't interfere, Jaken."

Inuyasha was laughing madly and was running at Sesshoumaru again, sword in front of him, when he heard the dreaded word that would make him plunge face-first into the mud.

"SIT, boy!" Kagome shouted, and then cried, "Sesshoumaru!"

Sesshoumaru – no, the beast, looked at her with its bloody red eyes and snarled at her, clutching the waterfall of blood that gushed from his left arm.

"Ok, ok." She sighed, taking up the subjugation necklace again. She glanced up once to see Sesshoumaru standing up and coming her way. "Concentrate, Kagome."

_Shu, jun, bi, jun, zuu, juu, jun. _She repeated the words, knowing that if she failed now, her last hour had struck. Behind her closed eyes, she could see the beads starting to glow, but she kept chanting the words mentally, not allowing herself to stop just yet.

She could feel someone patting her on the back. _**Yes, that's it, Kagome. Don't stop.**_

The beads started swarming towards Sesshoumaru, hitting him from all sides. He didn't even appear to notice, he just stumbled in her direction, flexing his claws.

_A word, a word, a word, _Kagome thought, hysterically searching her mind. She looked up to see Sesshoumaru right in front of her, and barely dodged his claw.

She backed up against a bone. _A word! I have to find a word!_

"Sesshoumaru… STAY!" She yelled, an suddenly, she heard the crack of ice. Sesshoumaru froze all over, unable to move, his claw still retracted behind his body, ready to attack her again. With a flash of white, his formerly blood red eyes turned white and gold again.

"It worked." Kagome said happily, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. Then she saw the tracks of blood that had followed him here. "Your… arm…" Kagome whimpered, digging in her bag for her trusted First Aid box.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha leapt up again, covered in mud, frantically searching for Sesshoumaru. When he spotted the daiyoukai so close to Kagome, he didn't even _notice_ that his brother had stopped moving.

Growling, he hit his brother at the throat, throwing him over the edge with the force of the strike of his Tessaiga. "See ya later, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha roared, laughing.

"No! Sesshoumaru!" Kagome cried, jumping up with her First Aid box in her hand. She could barely make him out as he faded into the mist. He wouldn't be able to move if he was under her 'stay' command. "Move, move!" she cried, hoping that it would work.

And he moved, changing himself into a sphere of blue light as he headed for the hole of black energy they entered through.

"Kagome? What's wrong!" Inuyasha asked, shaking her violently when he saw her crying yet again.

"You nearly killed him!" she shrieked, swinging her black bag pack over her shoulder as she hopped on the back of a skeleton bird. "You were supposed to keep him from killing _you!_"

She pushed Inuyasha aside. "Kagome? What are you doing?"

She gritted her teeth. "I'm going after him."

Jaken whimpered and jumped on another skeleton bird. "Milord! Wait for meeeeeeee!"

"I never should've pulled out the sword in the _first _place."

And Inuyasha was left there, a dumbfounded look on his face as he stared at the Tessaiga in his hands and the fading shadows of the birds that carried Jaken and Kagome.

"Well, 'tleast I got the sword," he grumbled, shrugging a little.

* * *

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, ****an island near Izu – 1511**

Sesshoumaru had literally crashed somewhere near the hole of the black pearl. Ah-Un had arrived a few minutes after them, smelling his Master's blood. The tatsume had helped dragging him on his own back, and together they flew back to the province of Sagami, where Inuyasha would not be able to find him – his senses were not as good as that of a full demon, after all.

They put him down with his back against a tree. When she saw him like that, she started bawling her eyes out again.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I never should have pulled the sword out. And I never should've given your brother the sword."

_It was stupid, yes. But this Sesshoumaru understands why you did it. He is not happy about his brother having the sword. And… about the other thing -_

Sesshoumaru grunted, unused to apologizing, but through his mind, she could sense a tiny bit of regret that he had nearly killed her.

"I know it wasn't you, but your beast." she stated, digging up a towel from her bag pack. She ripped it in smaller pieces. She pushed the sleeve of his kimono up and wrapped a piece around his heavily bleeding stump, fastening it with elastoplast. "But I also know that what you said – you meant most of it, didn't you? I know you hate humans. "

He nodded. _But this Sesshoumaru has honor. He promised to stay, so he will stay._

"I know that," she said, smiling. "And I guess we're even now." She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono. "I don't like you for nearly killing me, and you don't like me for giving the sword to your brother." She said, giggling a little while she wrapped another piece of her towel around the stump to stem the bleeding.

The pieces of towel were drenched in blood almost immediately.

"Maybe I can heal it," she mumbled, closing her First Aid box. "Kaede could heal things with miko powers… So why not me!"

She groaned from the effort, but managed to produce a glove of glowing pink miko powers. She brought her hand closer to Sesshoumaru's wound, but he growled at her.

_Stop that! _he roared mentally._ You'll just purify this Sesshoumaru. He will _**not**_ be your… guinea pig. It will heal… eventually. _

"Alright, alright. But you've lost your arm either way…" Jaken whimpered at that, whining something about that 'insolent half demon that wounded his lord'.

He shook his head. _No. It will grow back. In a century, maybe longer._

Communicating like this really was easy. "It will _grow_ back!" she cried, baffled. "With bones and muscles and blood vessels?"

He nodded. "Wow! Youki powers are amazing!" she exclaimed. Then, she stood up. "Jaken, help me prepare dinner, please? Please catch some fish. It's going to be a long night."

She ignored Jaken's complaining and got to work.

This would be her first night in the Sengoku Jidai with Sesshoumaru and Jaken. And also, a rather frightening night. Sesshoumaru, who was worn out from fighting Inuyasha, and on top of that, wounded, would not be able to protect her.

She had Jaken, of course, but she really didn't trust the annoying kappa. At least, with Sesshoumaru, you could safely assume that he would keep his word. Jaken? Not so much.

She looked up to see a full moon peeking through the many clouds. The air was thick with mist, and her clothes were damp from the moisture. The wood was also a little soggy, but she was sure that she could start a fire nonetheless.

She collected the pieces of firewood in her kimono, walking back to camp where she found a mumbling Jaken, who sat near to Sesshoumaru with his arms crossed.

She could distinctly make out something about how 'pitiful humans should do the work', and not 'demons like me'.

"Well, I suppose you don't want any dinner, tonight, then?" she asked Jaken, collecting stones to form a ring to keep the fire in its place like she had seen on TV. Jaken immediately walked over to the stream and started fishing with a spear.

When everything was in its place, she started rummaging her bag back.

"What're you doing, human?" Jaken asked when he saw his lord glaring at her.

"I – er… Can Ah-Un spit fire?" she asked, sitting up. "Because, my lighter-" She held up her lighter, which was a fluorescent yellow, "Is empty."

"Well, of course he can!" Jaken cried. "He's a _dragon steed!_"

Sesshoumaru grumbled something, and Jaken turned to him. "What is it, milord?"

Kagome grimaced. "He wants you to be silent, or he will step on you when he can walk again."

Jaken squawked. "How dare you! I have never heard of such - "

"I can read his mind, Jaken."

"Huh?" Jaken scratched his head, whacking off the black hat. "You can _what?"_

"Never mind," she said, walking over to Ah-Un and removing his muzzle. "Can you help me light our fire?" she asked the tatsume, stroking both his heads.

Ah nodded, and Un head butted against her hand. Apparently, the beast wasn't used to shows of affection. She snorted. No wonder, with Sesshoumaru as his – their? Boss.

A huge flame emerged from Un's mouth, enlightening the fire. Ah-Un walked close and lay down, motioning for Kagome to lean on him.

She nodded and sat in front of it, leaning against Ah-Un's back. She hugged her knees, staring into the orange flames as she ate from a heated can of ramen and roasting a salmon Jaken had caught over the fire.

Jaken was feeding Sesshoumaru, because the daiyoukai didn't want Kagome to do it.

It was rather quiet, as Jaken had stopped talking altogether after Kagome had told him about Sesshoumaru's thoughts. She tried thinking a bit but couldn't concentrate on it at all, as she could only hear Sesshoumaru's thoughts.

She didn't mean to hear everything he thought, but it was hard to block everything from her mind. She could feel that he was still pissed at her for giving Inuyasha the sword, but ironically, not about stopping him at all.

The daiyoukai leaned against the tree, sitting up again as he let Jaken feed him. He was thinking of his grandmother, and how he would have to make her regent for the duration of their quest to find the Sacred Jewel Shards.

But he was pulled out of his musings when he smelled the scent of sadness coming from the girl across from him, who was staring with vacant eyes at the fire, not even having realized that the salmon she held in the flames had burned.

_What ails you, ningen? _He asked through the link that connected them.

She shook her head. "I just think it is unfair, me being able to read your mind. I know you are aggravated by the fact that you can't hide anything from me, not even if you want to."

Jaken looked at her, then at Sesshoumaru and back again, raising his eyebrows at the weird conversation, but he didn't dare to say anything.

He nodded. _That is true. But you cannot help it, and neither can this Sesshoumaru._

She smiled, her eyes twinkling with the light of the fire. "Still, you don't know half as much about me. Don't you have questions?"

Sesshoumaru chewed on another bite of ramen Jaken fed him. The strange 'instant noodles' from her world. Of course he had questions about her world, especially because her grandfather had mentioned something about men traveling to moon. But there was something else.

_This Sesshoumaru has met your grandfather, mother, and brother. If he may ask… where is your father?_

Kagome grimaced. Somehow, she expected that question. Everyone that knew her asked it.

"My father? Well… he died. I was seven." She could vaguely remember the man with the same chocolate brown eyes as her little brother Souta, but she had forgotten a lot. The sound of his voice, his favorite food – they had some photographs of him, but that was all that was left of Takashi 'honor' Higurashi. "He died in a car accident. You know, one of the steel contraptions you mistook for a demon?"

He growled at her. _How do you know about that!_

"Souta told me. Although I'm still not sure what he told the police…"

Sesshoumaru didn't seem to know the word _police. _It was obvious that he didn't, but still funny. "They're like the guard of the people, making sure everything ensues according to law."

Sesshoumaru snorted. _This Sesshoumaru __**knew **__that! _

"No, you didn't." she stated, as she stood up. "Well, I should get changed, I want to go to sleep soon."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and she left off, invisible behind the many beeches. She came back, wearing a weird outfit decorated with bunnies, flowers and stars. She fidgeted nervously under his gaze, and then settled for a "Goodnight." before retiring in the sleeping bag against Ah-Un, who had seemed to take it upon himself to be her bodyguard.

Sesshoumaru wasn't tired at all, and so spent his time trying to close his mental door, which he tested through showing Kagome things in her sleep. It was easy to test whether it worked or not, for the girl didn't stop babbling in her sleep either. It was very different from traveling with Jaken, who was mostly silent, only talking when he felt he had to give a speech on his lord's superiority.

It went well, for the girl stopped mumbling about his thoughts, when he suddenly felt a youkai aura approach.

"Jaken." he growled, waking the kappa, who sat up with a startled squeak. "Get up. We have a visitor."

* * *

**A/N: Hope you liked this one! Finally! "STAY, Sesshoumaru!" hehe.**

**Now, especially for TKE from Dokuga:**

**Erliane****'s Kanji Special. **

**

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**犬夜叉**= Inuyasha. Does **_**not **_**mean 'female dog demon', like people think. While yasha does mean female demon, the kanji have different meanings. **

犬**= kanji of inu. Means 'dog'. Read as inu. **

夜**= kanji of yoru. Means 'night'. Read as ya. **

叉**= kanji of sa. Means 'fork in road'. Read as sha. **

**However, if you combine **夜** and **叉**, they mean, 'demon'. Inuyasha literally means 'dog demon'.**

**

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**かごめ **= Kagome. Name written in hiragana. Can mean 'lost' or 'star'. Named after the light in her chest – the jewel. **

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弥勒**= Miroku. Combined, it means '**_**Maitreya'**_**, a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology****.**

弥**= kanji of ya. Means 'increasingly'. Read as mi.**

勒**= kanji of roku. Means 'hatler and a bit'. Read as roku. **

* * *

珊瑚**= Sango. Combined, the characters mean coral. One of the seven treasures.**

珊**= kanji of san. Means 'loneliness'. Read as san.**

瑚**= kanji of go. Means 'ancestral offering receptacle' (what?). Read as go. **

* * *

七宝**= Shippou. Does not mean 'silver', like I've read somewhere, but literally 'Seven Treasures', ****which are Gold, Silver, Lapis Lazuli, Quartz, Coral, Pearl and Amber.**

七**= kanji of shichi. Means 'seven'. Read as shi.  
**宝 **= kanji of takara. Means 'treasure' or 'wealth'. Read as pou.**

**Shippo (without the kanji) can also mean 'tail' - joke from Takahashi?**

* * *

琥珀**= Kohaku. Combined, the characters mean, 'amber'. One of the Seven Treasures.**

**

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**

**- Erliane**

**Final Word Count: 5892  
**


	7. Blue blaze of the kitsune

**_- Chapter Seven-  
Blue blaze of the kitsune _**

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**Disclaimer: **I own them! I seriously… don't. Sorry to disappoint you.

**A/N: Stories write themselves. You know what I mean? A lot of stuff happens that you hadn't planned before. But I'm glad they do, because it usually makes a story much better. **

**I want to thank everyone that commented and reviewed. It means a lot. **

**Last kanji special was popular so I'll add something like that at the end.**

**_

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**_The Legend of the Kitsune of Inari Oukami _**

_A long time ago, the kami of foxes, Inari Oukami, bestowed one of his most loyal servants the power of Shape-shifting. She was to become a messenger, to be the link between the kami and the humans. _

_The kami of foxes warned his faithful servant that she was never to reveal her true identity, never to tell anyone that she was a kitsune._

_The white kitsune, being a trickster, agreed to this. Every night, she would leave the house of Inari to mingle with the humans, transforming himself to resemble their pink fleshed forms, often bringing messages, but also playing pranks on everyone._

_One day, she met a handsome prince with whom she fell in love with. She started visiting him every night, bringing gifts from Inari. He, unknowing of her true identity, married the kitsune in human form. _

_Being inexperienced with shape-shifting, however, she was not able to hide her fox-shaped shadow. When the young prince noticed this, he banished the kitsune from the palace, having assumed that everything – their love, and their time together – was a prank. _

_And so she was forced to leave her beloved prince forever. The fox can still be seen sometimes, weeping every month at the full moon, the day she lost her handsome love, treasuring the only thing she had left of him: a beautiful fox kit. _

**_

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_**

**Kamakura**** Jidai – Japan, Kensai Fortress in Inaba – 1278**

The Great InuTaisho Tetsuo Kensai stood in his personal office, enjoying a few moments of rest as he watched his mate and their hanyou son as they played in the afternoon sun, the warm rays making their hair lit up. He grinned when he heard their happy laughter from his place at the window, Izayoi's the soft ring of a bell, and Inuyasha's a lot like his. It was the end of the summer, and the courtyard looked particularly inviting today. But Lord Tetsuo had other things to worry about.

A recent scroll from their neighbor Ryukotsusei of the Dragons was a dark cloud in their contentment, a dark spot in the light that had been there ever since he met Izayoi.

The scroll had been rather unexpected, to say the least. But then again, it was Riiseki they were talking about. Riiseki always wanted things that were unanticipated. He wondered what his son would say, but decided that he knew that already. Sesshoumaru would do anything for an alliance with the dragons.

He smelled the arrival of his son before he could hear it. The scent of tree bark, ginkgo and ginger. So unlike his own, and so like his mother's.

A soft knock sounded on the door. "Come in." he said, not bothering to raise his voice. Inuyoukai had the best hearing senses of all youkai, and so his son would be able to hear him.

Sesshoumaru, his older son, entered the room, an expression of disgust on his face when he heard the door creaking a little. The young Sesshoumaru looked a lot like his father, and if he would wear a topknot, he would undoubtedly be mistaken for Tetsuo. The only difference was in the marks on their face, and the icy demeanor of the younger Kensai.

Tetsuo motioned for his guards to leave the room. They were inuyoukai too, and would be able to hear them even with the door closed, but at least he _felt_like he had a bit more privacy with them gone.

Sesshoumaru bowed. "You sent for _this Sesshoumaru_, father?"

It reminded him painfully of the cold Kikoori, his first mate, and Sesshoumaru's mother. She had always talked like that, calling herself "this Kikoori" and "her". He realized now that she had had entirely too much influence on the young Sesshoumaru. And she had left her marks on him. Whenever he looked at his son, he could only see the stoic face of Kikoori, although his face was nearly a twin of Tetsuo's own.

Tetsuo turned away from the window and indicated that his son could sit down in front of his desk. "Drop the 'this Sesshoumaru', please. I will not have you talking like your mother, son."

For a few seconds, Tetsuo could see anger burning in his son's eyes. Sesshoumaru snarled, and his jaw set. Then he forced himself to be calm, and the anger was gone from his eyes.

"Yes, father." He said, averting his gaze. "Now, what is it you want to discuss with hi- me?" Sesshoumaru asked, eyeing the playing Izayoi and Inuyasha, his golden eyes unreadable.

He wore his training clothes. Tetsuo had probably dragged him from his training session in the dojo, which he valued a lot, but it could not be helped. This was about Sesshoumaru's future, after all.

"It is in regard to a political alliance proposed by our neighbor." Tetsuo said, reaching for the scroll with the green ribbon, the color of the dragons.

"Ryukotsusei, father?"

"Hai. Ryukotsusei. His daughter, the Lady Riiseki, has apparently taken a liking to you. She has proposed an alliance through mating." Tetsuo said, handing the scroll over to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru unrolled the scroll, reading the fancy kanji. "They offer a treaty, and the provinces Owari, Mino and Hida." said the young inuyoukai, closing the scroll again.

Sesshoumaru wrinkled his nose. Riiseki. The annoying, green haired sibling of Ryuukata – the firstborn son of Ryukotsusei. Having grown up in a clan with six sons, she was the only daughter and therefore spoiled.

He had known about her crush on him – he had sensed and known about it long before she did. But now that she knew, she wanted him as her mate. And Riiseki always got what she wanted.

Refusing her would be nearly impossible, for Ryukotsusei had power. And a lot of it. He would probably attack Tetsuo if they refused.

The dragons had been the ones responsible for the death of Tetsuo's father, the great Lord Kuroshi. They had been at war for centuries now, and it was only because of Riiseki that they had a chance to change that forever.

It would be hard to satisfy the wishes of the girl, but worth the land.

"This Sessho-I mean, _I_ cannot refuse."

Tetsuo stood up, facing the window again. "Why? Why can't you refuse?"

Sesshoumaru raised a pale eyebrow. "It is what you want me to do, right? The dragons and the dogs have always been sworn enemies. This is our chance."

Tetsuo shook his head and frowned. "It is what I expect you to do. Not what I want you to do."

"Excuse me?" Sesshoumaru said, his confusion visible in his golden eyes only.

"We have enough land already." the InuTaisho said, pointing at the map that marked their territory and that of their allies, which included the kitsune, tanuki, kappa, and bakeneko.

"I will not force you into a loveless mating like my father did to me. You will only mate a female you love. I want you to be happy."

Sesshoumaru sighed. "Very well then. This Sesshoumar- I mean, _I_ love Riiseki. I _want_ to mate her."

Anger played across the InuTaisho's handsome features. "Enough!" he bellowed as he threw his hands in the air. "Do not lie to me son. I smell your deceit." he said, pointing at his rather large nose and daring his son to contradict him.

"But father I-"

Tetsuo stopped him with a gesture of his hand. "You are only three hundred, Sesshoumaru. You have your whole life in front of you." he said, frowning at the young inuyoukai. "And you will mate a female you _really _love, and when that time comes, you will be on your knees, begging me and your _entire family_ to be able to take her. And _that's _final!"

Sesshoumaru's words were like poison, burning into an old wound. "You want me to be like you." he said, his voice dangerously low and his eyes narrowed. "You want me to mate a _filthy_ human!"

Sesshoumaru glanced at the playing Izayoi and Inuyasha, his eyes burning with anger as he snarled at the laughing human and hanyou.

Tetsuo shook his head, his long hair that was swept up into a topknot swishing back and forth, the silvery strands so much like his son's. "I do not care about her nature, youkai or not. All I want is for you to be happy. I hope you understand, son."

He averted his eyes, not showing his son the pain that was evident in his eyes. He should've been there when his son grew up, should have prevented Kikoori from initiating those ludicrous thoughts and ideas about humans into their son's brain. But it was too late now. He could not teach an old dog a new trick.

"You are dismissed." he said, glancing at the painting of his late father in his animal form. He was still mad at the old man for thinking he would ever be happy with the icy Kikoori.

Sesshoumaru clenched his teeth and nodded as he walked away. Only minutes after he had left, Tetsuo's mother Yukiko entered.

She looked not a day over fifty-five in human age. Her age-old face was slightly wrinkled, framed by a few curling, silver strands that had escaped her informal bun. Her wise golden eyes were full of worry as she approached her son, straightening her kimono as she sat down across from him.

"Are you sure this is the path you should walk upon?" she asked, eyeing the scroll on his desk.

Tetsuo smiled sadly. "So you heard?" he asked, picking up a brush as he started writing a response to Ryukotsusei's proposal of alliance.

"Hai. In fact, the whole fortress must've heard you, the way you yelled at your son." she stated.

Tetsuo took a deep breath. "I _am_ sure about this."

Yukiko smiled affectionately at her oldest son, dimples showing in her cheeks. "Do not forget that my mating was arranged too. And I grew to love your father very, very much." she said, gazing at the painting of her late mate Kuroshi that hung behind Tetsuo's wooden desk.

"I know that, mother. But I do not want history to repeat itself."

Kikoori had left him for another, her reasoning still, after all these years, unknown. She left her only son behind, but had taught him to hate humans and never to show emotion – Sesshoumaru was practically her clone of the male gender.

Yukiko nodded. "Very well then. I respect your choice. But do you really suppose that Sesshoumaru has the capability to love? To show emotion again?"

Tetsuo grinned the grin that was characteristically his, one he had inherited from his father, and nodded. "I imagine he will. Some day."

He sealed the letter to Ryukotsusei, not knowing that he had just signed his death note. "Sesshoumaru is half of me, after all. He cannot fight his nature."

His mothers eyes were suddenly sad. "Ryukotsusei will not be happy about this. Be careful, my son. Do not forget that his father killed Kuroshi. I do not want history to repeat itself either." she warned him, remembering the day her mate - Tetsuo's father - had been killed.

Tetsuo nodded. "Don't worry, mother. I can handle that Ryukotsusei!" he boasted, grinning slightly.

He did not see his mother's hollow eyes as she smiled sadly. "Let us hope you can, Tetsuo."

**_

* * *

_**

**_Previously:_**

_He had been practicing with the girl, using her and her mumbling habits to try to block his mind, when he suddenly felt a youkai aura approach.  
_

_"Jaken." Sesshoumaru growled, waking the kappa, who sat up with a startled squeak. "Get up. We have a visitor."_

**_

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_**

**Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Province of Sagami – 1511**

Kagome had been sleeping peacefully, dreaming of an old lady with snow white hair like Sesshoumaru's when she was woken by Ah-Un's nervous whines.

"What's wrong?" she mumbled as she sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She stroked Ah and Un's manes, glancing up expectantly at Jaken. She clutched her flashlight in her right hand.

"Oh, dear." Jaken squeaked, jumping up. "This is not good…"

Suddenly, Kagome felt it. The aura of a demon, rapidly coming closer.

Jaken walked stealthily over to the bushes. "I demand you show yourself!" he cried, his voice tinged with a hint of panic as he waited, his Staff of Two Heads clutched tightly in his scaly hand. When there was no reply, he let the old man spew fire as warning.

"It's here." Sesshoumaru growled, feeling a bit useless as he sat against the aged trunk of the huge Hackberry tree, unable to do much.

"Where?" Kagome said, willing herself not to start panicking. "I can't see anything." She pulled the switch of her flashlight up, flashing the white light around the clearing.

She narrowed her eyes. "Can youkai become invisible?" she asked, looking at Sesshoumaru.

"Only kitsune."

Fox demons. "Maybe it's a fox?" she mumbled, searching the clearing until she saw something sparkle. It was the nearly bald head of – "Myouga?"

Myouga grinned at her, waving with all four of his arms. "Kagome! I found you!" he cried out, hopping over to her. He landed on her hand, and started greedily slurping her blood.

"Oh, it's him." Jaken said, visibly relaxing as he sat down next to the fire.

"Hey, you can't just suck blood!" Kagome cried, shoving the flea demon off her hand.

He started to pout. "But Kagome, a flea has to eat, too."

She snorted. "Well, feast on someone else, like Jaken."

Myouga's eyes started to twinkle. "Maybe I'll do that." he said, hopping over to Sesshoumaru. "Milord. I hope you are well?"

Sesshoumaru growled at him. "This Sesshoumaru has no business with you, who betrayed this Sesshoumaru for his hanyou brother."

Myouga gulped, bowing his head. "I'm sorry, milord."

Kagome sighed, dragging a hand through her disheveled hair. "Sesshoumaru, don't be so stupid. He's the one that told you about the staff in the first place."

"Now, if you don't mind, I'll be going back to sleep." She said, waving at them as she stepped back into the sleeping bag, which was warm, or at least warmer than the cold night atmosphere.

**_

* * *

_**

The night was quiet, even the crickets were silent for once. She could hear Jaken and Ah-Un snoring loudly, and one checkup through the link told her that Sesshoumaru had stopped thinking altogether. Everyone was asleep.

Everyone but Kagome. She was plagued by her overflowing emotions, most of all by the guilt. Today, Sesshoumaru had nearly died because of her. She wondered what would happen if the jewel was activated again – would she have to stop him from attacking her again?

Yes, she was a bit peeved at him for trying to kill her. But she also knew that he had much more right to be pissed at her than she at him. She had nearly staged his death, after all.

He had chosen to help her protect the jewel – but she had heard him think that he would much rather be in his fortress now, or patrol his lands in solitude like he had done before.

Kagome stood up and began to gather her things, putting them in her bag pack. She shivered involuntarily – it was a rather cold night in the mountains of Sagami.

Swinging her bag pack over a shoulder, she started to tiptoe out of the camp, but a voice stopped her.

"Kagome. Where are you going?"

She flinched. Had he been awake all this time? Then he had blocked her from his mind! She laughed nervously. "Oh, you know, I'm just going to bathe."

Sesshoumaru's golden eyes narrowed. He could smell her deceit. "At this hour?" he said, nodding at the full moon that peeked through the blanket of dark clouds.

She nodded. "Now, if you'll let me-"

He snorted. "Do not be foolish, ningen. This Sesshoumaru can smell your dishonesty."

Kagome gulped, a blush tingeing her pale cheeks as she averted her sapphire eyes. "I just don't want to be a burden," she whispered, staring at her clasped hands.

Sesshoumaru growled at her. "You were leaving?"

She nodded. "I nearly killed you! I just felt so… guilty."

"You cannot defend yourself." He stated, looking at the dagger that peeped out of her bag. "You do not know how to use that dagger," he said, nodding at the blade, "and you are not skilled in archery."

"Then train me." She whispered. "And I will be gone when I am skilled enough to defend myself."

He growled. "You do not understand. This Sesshoumaru took this burden upon himself. Have you ever heard of honor, ningen? Leaving this Sesshoumaru would be like denying that."

"I do not mean to anger you."

"Then do not suggest leaving ever again!" he bellowed, not worrying about waking Jaken and Ah-Un at all. "You will not carry the responsibility of the jewel on your own."

She smiled at him. "Alright."

"But training might not be such a bad idea…" Sesshoumaru muttered.

**_

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_**

**_A few days later…  
_****Sengoku Jidai – Japan, Province of Toutoumi – 1511**

Kagome had allowed Sesshoumaru a few days to heal, but she still suspected that the stubborn daiyoukai had not fully recovered yet and was overexerting himself. It was in his nature to pull through, even when it wasn't a wise idea to do so.

It was noon, and she had asked Sesshoumaru to stop so they could lunch.

Days ago, she had seen the image of a rather large fortress in his mind, and she knew that he wanted to visit it, but he hadn't told her why. He hadn't told her anything, sporting a demeanor that was even colder than before – probably because she had given the sword to his brother and then tried to leave him.

She bit down into the leftovers of yesterday's dinner, a deer she had killed herself, inspecting the Ice Prince. The sun was making his hair shimmer, the silvery strands lighting up beautifully. He showed, as always, very little emotion – the only real emotion seemed to appear in his golden eyes, which were rather dreamy at the moment.

Through the link, she tried to see what he was thinking about, and to her surprise, he hadn't blocked her – something he had become quite well at during his 'weak' days.

He was thinking about the fortress, and about a man that looked a lot like him. Perhaps, this was the Great Demon Lord Tetsuo she had heard so much about.

Sesshoumaru hadn't noticed her scrutinizing him, but appeared to be lost in the memory of what was, presumably, his father. She pulled him from his notions.

"Can you please tell me why we're going to that fortress?"

When he didn't reply, she continued. "Telling me _something _is not that hard, you know." she spat, rather irritated by his behavior of the last days. "When are you going to train me? And _where _did Jaken go!" she growled, throwing her hands in the air.

If he could have folded his arms now, he would have done so. But he couldn't, for he had lost one in the battle with his hanyou brother, and so he just avoided her angry gaze. "Jaken went to alert everyone that this Sesshoumaru is coming."

She groaned. Sometimes, the 'this Sesshoumaru' and 'he' got on her nerves. Why couldn't he just say 'I' and 'me', like every sane person she knew? "And who is everyone?"

He took a deep breath. He decided to tell her, though he knew not why.

"This Sesshoumaru's family. His Grandmother, Yukiko, and his uncle Seishitai. This Sesshoumaru will not be able to fulfill his tasks and will need a regent. His Grandmother is the obvious choice."

The image of the golden eyed beauty she had dreamt about flashed through her mind. 'Snow Child'. Somehow, it suited the gentle eyes of the old woman with the silvery hair. She seemed to be about fifty-five, but must have been ages old to appear like that.

When she heard the name of his uncle, she shivered. "'Great Death Bringer'? How many people in your family have a name related to death? It's creepy."

He shrugged, fingering the grass. "It's a tradition. This Sesshoumaru's Grandfather was called Kuroshi, 'Black Death.', and his father was named Seisetsu, 'Phantom Killer'."

"So your father was the only one not named after tradition?"

"Hn."

She gazed at her water flask, the sun making the water sparkle as she turned the container around in her hands. "You never told me you had living family members other than your mother?"

Sesshoumaru grumbled, muttering something about not willingly telling her anything, and then he said, "Why shouldn't this Sesshoumaru have family?"

She shrugged. "I kind of just assumed, since your father is dead and all." An awkward silence followed, in which neither she nor Sesshoumaru talked.

"So. We're going to your castle?" she asked, trying to fill up the emptiness.

He nodded. "_One _of this Sesshoumaru's castles. Training will start when we get there."

She blinked, her mouth forming a little o as she stared at him. "_One _of your castles? Don't tell me you have more than one!"

"Of course." he stated, smirking when her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "The Kensai family has land everywhere. Mostly in the west and central parts of Japan, though."

"But how did you get so much land?"

He shrugged. "Political alliances. This Sesshoumaru's mother was the daughter of the youkai lord of the central lands, Inuuchi, and this Sesshoumaru's grandmother was from the west, from the Inuyan clan. Mating with them earned us either a treaty or more land."

* * *

**[Dog clans: **西犬**, Kensai, 'Dogs of the West' (Sesshoumaru's clan) | **犬中**, Inuuchi, 'Central Dogs' |**山犬**, Inuyan, 'Dogs of the Mountain'****.] **

* * *

"Political… alliances?" she asked, her eyes suddenly sad. "You mean… Arranged marriage?"

"We call it mating." He said, fingering his silver hair.

"You don't… _mate_ out of love?"

He shook his head. "Most youkai do not care for love, but for land, titles, and wealth. Emotionally unstable people like you humans mate out of love."

Her eyes turned angry for the second time in a few minutes. "How can you say that!" she spat, her eyebrows pulled down in an angry frown. "A loveless marriage… women, even youkai women, do not even have a choice, do they?"

Sesshoumaru muttered something about some spoiled woman that did have a choice, but Kagome didn't understand. She listened in on his thoughts, and found out about Riiseki, the spoiled and arrogant daughter of Ryukotsusei, who had apparently a crush on Sesshoumaru – but that was all she could find out before he blocked her out of his mind.

"Most women do not. Is it different in your time?"

Kagome snorted, putting her hands in her sides. "Of course! Women and men are _equals_."

She realized, as she said that, that the world in which Sesshoumaru lived was different, very different. Feminists did not exist in this time. Women were expected to play the role of the uncomplaining daughters and the obedient housewives. Women – also youkai women – did not have nearly as much rights as she had. But a woman, namely Sesshoumaru's Grandmother, _could_ become a regent?

"Sesshoumaru, how is it, that if women in this time have no rights, your Grandmother can become regent?" she asked, her blue eyes twinkling as she looked up at him, delighted to have found a slight error in his ideas.

"Because this Sesshoumaru chose her to be." He bellowed, daring her to contradict him. "Uncle Seishitai is not suited for the task," he grumbled, showing her images of the crazy, fun-loving youkai with the braided her and a permanent smirk.

She burst out laughing. "_That's_ your uncle?" It was ironic that this man was related to the stoic Ice Prince, but funny nonetheless.

Sesshoumaru snorted and growled at her. He stood up. "It's time to go." he said, his voice reminding her of ice once again.

"Hey, I'm not done yet!" Kagome cried, gathering her things quickly.

The smell of recently fallen rain entered her senses, and she watched as water from all sides formed a cloud in front of Sesshoumaru. He stepped on the cloud, which he used for transportation, and waited impatiently for her to follow.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming already." Kagome said, hopping on. They had been doing this for a few days. Without Ah-Un, Kagome had to walk and Sesshoumaru had complained about her being so very slow. The next day he had reluctantly allowed her a place on the cloud, which he could enlarge, and so she could sit down on it and gaze at the world from above.

They had been floating like that for a few minutes when a blue fire suddenly swirled through the sky.

Kagome gasped, pointing at the whirlpool of fire. "What's that?"

Sesshoumaru sniffed the air. "Smells like kitsune." He steered his cloud down, and hopped off. Kagome did the same. "Well, we are in kitsune territory after all."

"You posses shards of the sacred Shikon No Tama…" a childish voice said, "Give them to me!"

Sesshoumaru snorted. "Never."

The fire disappeared, and transformed into a enormous pink ball with two huge eyes. "Hand over the jewel!" it yelled, floating in front of Kagome's face. "The jewel… or your life!"

Sesshoumaru growled and struck the pink ball. It fell back and with a pop, changed into a small kitsune with red hair and green eyes. "Hey, what was that for!" it cried, rubbing his cheek.

Kagome blinked. "It's a kit!"

The kitsune stood up straight and roared. "Who dares to burst my bobble!"

"How old is he, do you think?" Kagome said, picking him up. "He's _so _cute!"

Sesshoumaru took the kitsune from her arms, holding it by its tail. "Who are you!" he asked. But the kitsune stuck his tongue out and a huge artifact landed on Sesshoumaru's hand, pinning him down.

"Where did that come from?" Kagome said, inspecting the weird statue.

The kitsune ran over to Kagome's bag pack, which had fallen on the ground, and started digging through it. "Hey! Leave my stuff alone!" Kagome cried.

He held a glass bottle with shards up. "Found it! The Sacred Jewel shards!" he jumped up, transforming himself to fire again. "Farewell!"

"Hm?" said Kagome, looking around a bit dazedly. "Where'd he go?"

The statue that pinned Sesshoumaru down disappeared. He jumped on a bush, dragging the kitsune out of it by his bushy tail. "Give them back!" Sesshoumaru roared, flexing his claws.

The little kit sighed and gave them back. Sesshoumaru prepared to strike him, but all Kagome had to do was say the word 'Stay,' and he froze over.

"Now, little guy, why don't you tell me why you want the shards so badly." She asked the kitsune that sat facing her, his arms folded.

His lower lip started to tremble. "For my father." He sniffed. "I need to avenge him."

"Avenge him?" Kagome said. "Was he… killed?"

The little boy nodded. "It all started not too long ago…"

_"Warriors from all over Toutoumi were engaged in a bloody battle near the fortress of Mitsuke, which was close to the forest where we lived. In the middle of the battle, a dark cloud passed over. No one could imagine what wars this cloud would bring."_

_"The warriors were puzzled by the strange turn in the weather, for it was unnatural. The lightning in the sky announced the arrival of the two youkai that had started all of this. The thunder brothers, Hiten and Manten, were the ones that controlled the dark clouds and the lightning."_

_"They had earned their immense powers from Shikon No Tama shards that were embedded in their foreheads, and their powers were not their own. But they were vicious in battle, killing everyone in their way. When all the soldiers were dead, they killed the entire fox clan. I was the only one who could escape them."_

"I saw them, sporting my father's pelt as an obi." The young fox kit wailed, hugging Kagome's leg.

Kagome's eyes overflowed with sympathy. She scooped up the kit and cuddled him. "What's your name, little one?"

"Shippou. Shippou of the Komikku clan!"

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**[**狐見付** = Komikku, 'Foxes of Mitsuke'. ]**

* * *

She smiled at him, ruffling his ginger hair. "Well, don't worry, Shippou! We will help you, won't we, Sesshoumaru?" she turned around to face the inuyoukai, who was still frozen under her 'stay' command.

"Oh, sorry." Kagome said. "I forgot! _Move._" she chanted, and he could move once again.

He snorted. "We will _not _help this child."

The little kit whimpered, hiding his face in Kagome's kimono. She smirked. "We will have to." she said, waving her index finger in the air.

"Hn?"

"They have jewel shards. We have no choice but to seek them out."

**_

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**A/N: I had a grammar special here, about Tetsusaiga and why that spelling is wrong – but that's basic hiragana and so I think everyone knows it already. If you still want it, just tell me and I'll drop it in the next A/N. **

**I think you can tell that this chapter was a 'breather' before we launch into action again. It was meant for explaining some things too. And who's to say Sesshoumaru doesn't have family left?  
**

**My OC and their names:**

竜翔太** Ryuukata, 'Great Soaring Dragon'. Son of Ryukotsusei.**

美竜姫** = Riise****ki, 'Beautiful Dragon Princess'. Daughter of Ryukotsusei.**

妃氷**Kikoori, 'Ice Queen'. Sesshoumaru's mother. (Not my OC. Her name is mine, though.)**

齎死太**= Seishitai, 'Great Death Bringer'. Uncle of Sesshoumaru.**

雪子** = Yukiko, 'Snow Child'. Grandmother of Sesshoumaru. **

黒死** = Kuroshi, 'Black Death'. Grandfather of Sesshoumaru, mate of Yukiko. ****Ϯ**

精殺**= Seisetsu, 'Phantom Killer'. Great-Grandfather of Sesshoumaru. ****Ϯ**

敬** = Takashi, 'Honor'. Father of Kagome. ****Ϯ**

**_

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**Takahashi Character Names:**

竜骨精 **= Ryukotsusei, 'Dragon Bone Spirit'. **

奈落** = Naraku, 'Hell, Hades'.**

鬼蜘蛛 **= Onigumo, 'Ghost Spider.'**

冥加 **= Myouga, 'Divine Protection'.**

邪見**= Jaken, 'Wicked Ideas'.**

鋼牙**= Kouga, 'Steel Fang'.**

神無**= Kanna, 'Void Soul'.**

神楽**= Kagura, 'Shinto dance'.**

**_

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**Ja ne! Hope you liked it. **

**- Erliane**

**Final Word Count: 5788**


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